Ai Youkai
by brown phantom
Summary: POLL. Challenge from Crossoverpairinglover. Kushina didn't die, she was taken away to another world and kept there for several years. Now she's back, but not as expected, and this will change the lives of Naruto and everyone around him. NaruHinaHarem
1. Chapter 1

_Written for Crossoverpairinglover's Succubus Queen Kushina Challenge, and created in collaboration with WolfPackersson09. Check Crossoverpairinglover's profle to see the challenge guidelines if you want, but for those of you who rather wouldn't, I won't provide any spoilers here. Also, feel free to check out all of Crossoverpairinglover's challenges listed on his profile. Apparently I'm one of only four people who's accepted any of his ten challenges and he kindly asked me to spread word about them._

_Warnings: This will be a harem fic. There will be mature material and things that might disturb people including but not limited to lemons. Also some parts are inspired by non-Naruto sources, but this is not a true crossover._

_I also do not own Naruto or anything Naruto-related except for my fanfics._

_Recommended Story: 'Naruto One Man Team' by Ackdam_

Chapter One

'I... I beat him.' Naruto thought, proud yet exhausted. 'Sasuke, you're coming back home. Sakura, I hope he makes you happy.'

As eager as his mind was to leave the Valley of the End after his big fight and triumphant victory over Sasuke, Naruto's body just did not want to comply. His legs gave up and he fell to his knees. 'Come on, stand up. You've got to go home.' He fell forward, his hands stopping him from collapsing completely. He was breathing deeply and his vision was getting blurry, not to mention he was lightheaded from the loss of blood from his chidori wounds.

Unknown to Naruto, he was being watched by three sets of eyes.

'Whoa, after all that he still has the energy to avoid passing out right away? Maybe it's time to take him to the next level.'

'Oh my Kami, he did it. He nearly died, but all by himself he managed to stop that jerk. Naruto, I know you even less than I gave you credit for.'

'Naruto-kun, you're so amazing.'

Before any of the watchers made a move, someone else did. That someone was Sasuke himself, returned to his normal form but his expression was that of a sadistic maniac who hated to lose. Basically, just himself but out for blood. He rose slowly, as if his muscles wanting to go on strike but he didn't care, and got up to his own knees as well.

"You... don't know when to give up... do you teme?" Naruto asked, wheezing but trying to get back on his own feet as well.

"Shut up. I will never lose to some talentless..." Sasuke tried to say, thinking up the meanest possible insult he could for his former teammate, but lacking the strength to talk much.

'These two can't go on any longer. Before one of them actually dies, I better stop them.' One of the watchers told themselves.

Before they could act, Naruto stiffened and started to glow. But he didn't glow red like before, no, this time he glowed orange. Everyone stopped moving, even Sasuke, wondering what was going on.

'What the heck is happening to me? Kyuubi is this you?' Naruto asked himself, not sure if he was saying it out loud or not.

"My son? Is that you?" A woman's voice called out to him.

"What? Who are you?" He asked back.

Naruto could see nothing around himself except for orange light. In front of him a dark figure began to appear, just a blotchy silhouette, but he could tell it was a person. Little by little it came into focus more, and soon it started to look like a woman. More detail came, giving her long red hair, violet eyes, and a purple dress with a green shirt underneath it. Naruto didn't recognize her at all, but he could sense she was powerful but not here to fight him.

When she saw him, she looked like she didn't know whether to smile, cry, or gasp. "Naruto? Is that really you?"

"Yeah I'm Naruto. How do you know me?"

She answered by hugging him, much to his surprise. "You look just like your father sweetie."

The blonde boy was too surprised by this to object, but he did say the first thing that came to mind. "You still haven't told me who you are."

"I'm sorry." She said, pulling away from him. "It's just that I haven't seen you in so long and for the past few years all I wanted was to see you again. Now that I can, I just wanted to hold you." She explained, her warm smile and gaze never leaving her face. But she saw Naruto still wanted his answer. "But before I ramble any further, my name is Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, your birth mother."

Naruto dropped his jaw and widened his eyes. "My mother?" He asked in disbelief. "This can't be real. This has got to be a dream."

Kushina lightly hit the top of his head. "Does that feel like a dream 'ttebane?"

Naruto rubbed his slightly sore spot on his scalp. "Why did you do that? Wouldn't a pinch have worked just as well?"

"True, but I doubt you would have let me do that so I had to try something harder to avoid. I'm sorry son."

Naruto looked okay but still confused. "Where have you been? Why are you just showing up now? And where did everything and Sasuke-teme go?"

"In order, I've been trapped in another kingdom for the past few years. I'm showing up now because now is the first chance in too long a time for me to see me again. I truly wanted to be here sooner, in fact I never wanted to leave you, but _someone_ was a bitch and stopped me all these years." She sounded like she wanted to kill 'someone' just as badly as Sasuke wanted to kill his brother. "And we're actually speaking in your mind right now so that's why you can't see anything else. I'd say outside here only a couple of seconds have actually passed."

"So technically you're not really here?" Naruto asked.

Kushina sadly nodded. "No, this is a sort of astral project to allow me to find you. Very soon though my real self will come to you directly. I just wanted to know where to go once I'm back in Midgard."

"Midgard?"

"I'll explain more later. Just stay where you are and I'll come to you as soon as possible son. Remember I still love you and I never stopped. You're what's been keeping me going all this time." Right now the vision started to fade away.

"Wait! Mom don't go!" Naruto shouted, extending his hand out. She took it gently as if to reassure him she could come for him, but she faded away completely.

Back out in the real world, the glow faded and Naruto collapsed like a puppet without strings.

"Well that was weird." Sasuke commented. He eyed a stray kunai left during the battle and picked it up. "I guess I better kill him before he does that or that weird red thing either."

All of a sudden, three figures came out of hiding and landed not that far from the traitorous Uchiha. He immediately recognized two of them, but the third was someone he never bothered to notice.

"Drop the kunai Sasuke. You're coming home with us." Kakashi, both eyes visible, told his once favored student. He then briefly glanced at the two others without losing his focus on Sasuke. "Girls, what are you two doing here?"

"Hokage-sama told me and Hinata to follow you, in case you decided to ignore your mission and follow these two." Sakura answered and Hinata nodded, her angry byakugan-enhanced glare focused on Sasuke who had yet to lose his weapon. "She was apparently right to worry you would act this way."

"If you interfere I'm going to kill you all too." Sasuke warned.

Sakura glared at him. "Give it up Sasuke. You're outnumbered and worn out from fighting Naruto. Even _you_ must realize the odds are against you."

Sasuke was mad they were calling his bluff. He figured he could easily get rid of Sakura, maybe struggle to beat the Hyuuga but still beat her, but there was no way he could defeat Kakashi in this state. No matter how he looked at it, he had lost.

Angry at such a circumstance, the young sharingan user tightened his grip on his kunai. 'At least I can kill the dobe and prove I'm still stronger than him.' Moving at quick as he can, which wasn't as fast as he would have preferred, Sasuke tried to drive the kunai into Naruto's neck for his token victory.

Before he could get close, he saw out of the corner of his eyes Kakashi create a raikiri, no doubt to use on him. Thinking quickly and using some of the last bits of chakra he had, Sasuke waited until the moment Kakashi lunged at him and did a kawarimi.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata were horrified to see Sasuke made Naruto take his place for the attack, resulting in Naruto getting another life-threatening wound. Maybe one too many for even the kyuubi to help heal.

By substituting with Naruto, Sasuke ended up putting himself on the ground and tried to get back up. However, he was stopped by a very unexpected obstacle: Sakura's fist to his head, followed by Hinata's juuken.

Kakashi ignored the two angry girls in favor of trying to keep Naruto alive. The way he saw it, nothing short of a miracle could save Naruto right now, but he had to try. As he tried using what little medical jutsu he had copied in his life, Kakashi ntoiced two things at work on Naruto's injuries. The first was red chakra, obviously from the kyuubi, trying to stop Naruto from bleeding to death and repair the cellular damage, and a strange orange chakra working on the wounds too, as if reinforcing the red chakra. 'I don't understand this, but if it increases Naruto's odds of living by even one percent I won't stop it.' The cycloptic jounin thought as he continued to help in his own way.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Hinata looked like they were trying to bring Sasuke closer to death instead. They stopped after he stopped resisting, allowing them to see he was unconscious. Both girls panted heavily, their adrenaline rush wearing off. Sakura smiled at Hinata. "Not bad Hinata. I just hope Naruto being in danger is the only thing that can get you this driven in a fight."

"Thank you Sakura-san." The shy girl replied. "Umm... if you don't mind my asking, why exactly were you attacking Sasuke-san too? I thought you were so fond of him."

The pinkette looked upset and lost eye contact with the Hyuuga heiress. "I'll tell you later. It's a long story and we need to get Naruto and Sasuke back." She then came up to her sensei with Hinata following. "Kakashi-sensei, is Naruto ok?"

"I'm not sure, but he's healing. Someone up there must like him."

Hinata leaned down and gently kissed Naruto, much to the surprise of the others. "He's still warm and returned it, so he's going to be fine." She said happily with tears in her eyes.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with a long story to tell, huh Hinata?" Sakura commented with a friendly tone, causing Hinata to blush.

"Not now girls. We need to take these two home before Naruto gets worse." Kakashi said as he created a clone to pick up Sasuke while he picked up Naruto. The girls nodded, and soon everyone headed back to Konoha.

* * *

><p>Far away from the Valley of the End, there was a gigantic tree surrounded by many big ones but they looked puny by comparison. There was something unusual about this tree, but it was something no one could put their finger on. It was almost unworldly, something monks would call divine and ninja would call a chakra anomaly. This tree felt like it had it's own chakra system, a biological impossibility since chakra was only created by animals and people. And if that wasn't odd enough, the chakra from the tree did not feel like ordinary chakra. It was an unclassified type. For this reason, everyone agreed to leave this strange tree alone.<p>

No one was anywhere near the tree right now, which was a good thing. Because right then some of the bark began to move like some sort of sheet. Soon a hole was revealed, a black gap so dark nothing could be seen inside it. But a moment later, there were a few small lights like stars glowing, and a hand came out, followed by a head then the rest of a body.

"I'm back." Kushina said as the hole behind her closed. "How long has it been? Naruto was only supposed to be six years old. Not old enough to be a genin. What happened? Damn that woman for making me take so long to get back to this realm. And damn her for taking me from it in the first place."

She sighed and shook her head. "That's not important. I need to see my baby now, even if he's not a baby anymore. He needs to know who and what he is, and will be. Before _not_ knowing kills him."

Without saying another word, Kushina was immediately on the move.


	2. Chapter 2

_Recommended Story: 'Naruto vs Sasuke The Aftermath' by Kingkakashi_

Chapter Two

After running as fast as they could with two unconscious tag-alongs, Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata finally made it back to Konoha. A few other search parties had already gone out to locate the other members of Shikamaru's team and brought them back, making this group the last to return. Chouji and Neji were in the worst condition, with Tsunade herself overseeing Chouji's treatment and Shizune overseeing Neji's. Kiba and Lee both needed to stay in the hospital one night, maybe two, to recuperate, and Shikamaru's finger injury was already treated enough that he was only still the hospital by choice now, since he was waiting to hear how his friends were.

Because of this, the staff was stretched a bit when Kakashi came to the hospital, but he got ahold of an unprejudiced doctor who would stabilize Naruto before he got worse. Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata refused to leave the room until they got a sign that Naruto was in the clear or not. Kakashi's clone took Sasuke to the prison hospital, since they would be the best at ensuring he didn't get out anytime soon under his own power. The clone even left orders to keep him locked up until Kakashi or Tsunade said otherwise and to disregard any orders from anyone else.

Naruto was bandaged, stitched, connected to tubes and machines, and unconscious, but by some unfathomable reason, he was still alive and even breathing under his own power. "Well, he should be in the clear now. All that's left to do is keep him nourished and on painkillers, and wait until he wakes up. He'll probably feel like hell but at least he'll be alive." The doctor told the others.

"Thank you Doctor. I hope you don't mind us waiting here for him to wake up." Kakashi replied.

"No problem. Now, I think I've earned a coffee break. Bye." The doctor said before leaving.

The three shinobi turned to Naruto, as if they thought he would open his eyes any second now. So far that was not happening.

* * *

><p>An hour later Tsunade had a free moment and decided to go check on Naruto, whom one of the nurses informed her was brought in and stabilized but showed no activity.<p>

When she got to the room, she saw Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata sitting around keeping an eye on Naruto, each with a drink in their hands. "Please tell me how Naruto is." She started.

"By all facts, he should be dead, but somehow is still alive." Kakashi answered. "I don't understand it, but I am certainly glad it's true."

Tsunade's eyes widened, and she immediately began a diagnostic scan jutsu over the blonde boy. "His pulse is steady, he has some broken bones that are mending, some torn muscles that are doing the same..." She paused, looking like she was now seeing something rather unpleasant. "Signs of damage to internal organs? Missing epidermis on multiple areas on the torso but lower layers of skin growing in? Low blood pressure? What happened to him? Did someone drive a pike thru his chest?"

"Not exactly a pike, but yes." Kakashi regretfully admitted. "And... it was done three times."

"THREE TIMES?" Tsunade shouted, causing Sakura and Hinata to jump back.

Kakashi sadly nodded, unable to make eye contact. "Sasuke used the chidori technique, something I regret teaching him, on Naruto twice... and... he tricked me into striking him a third time."

Tsunade had never seen the technique, but on her trip back to Konoha Naruto had described it to her as a lightning sword his sensei used for close range kills. He sounded like he hoped to learn it once they got back to Konoha. "Tell me where the bastard is so I can punish him accordingly." Few had any doubt what exactly she had in mind.

"He's in the prison hospital right now with the caretakers there ordered to place him in a cell once he's stable." Kakashi answered. "You should know Hokage-sama, I saw a strange chakra at work in Naruto's wounds, and I don't mean the chakra you're thinking of. This was a completely different one."

Tsunade was instantly alerted, and glanced over towards Sakura and Hinata. "Could you two please leave the room for a moment? This is going to be a classified talk."

The girls nodded and left the room. Tsunade looked back at the one-eyed jounin. "Continue."

* * *

><p>Evening came and Tsunade was worn out. The last thing she wanted to deal with was an emergency council meeting that she didn't even order. In fact, she was strongly tempted to use her hokage authority to call it off and tell them all to wait a night on whatever it was they wanted to yammer on about. There was only one thing that made her want to go now in the first place.<p>

The summons note, which read 'Tsunade Senju, you are hereby ordered to attend a council meeting at 6:00 PM tonight and drop whatever previously scheduled distractions you may have at said time. Failure to comply is not an option and will result in penalization.'

Tsunade was pissed and offended to read that. To think someone had the audacity to actually order her around as a subordinate and not even leave a name for themselves. Whoever sent this needed to be taken off their high horse and have said horse shot, and that alone was why Tsunade was going in the first place.

She got there and saw everyone else was there too and talking in a heated debate. Hiashi, Shikaku, Tsume, and Chouza looked like she felt, irritated and wishing they were anywhere else, preferably with those who were still in treatment. Some of the other members on both sides looked irritated too, like they agreed that this could have waited another day.

One of the civilians saw the slug sannin approach. "Hokage-sama, is it true that the fox has already endangered the lives of several of our shinobi?"

Tsunade sent out so much killing intent right then it almost felt like she was trying to summon the Manda equivalent of the slugs. "Listen good everyone, I am NOT in a good mood right now. I do NOT appreciate being interrupted when I'm working to save people's lives. I do NOT appreciate people ordering me, the hokage, around like they outrank me and demanding I attend meetings that I DID NOT CALL! AND I do NOT appreciate those meetings starting BEFORE I EVEN SHOW UP!" She paused to glare at each and every person there. "Now, first thing first, who here thinks they can demand I show up here or get punished if I refused?"

No one answered, prompting Tsunade to cross her arms. "That oh-so-kindly-worded request didn't write itself people. Answer me now!" Still no one answered. "Fine. Since no one here has got the balls to admit it, give me one damn good reason why I shouldn't declare this meeting adjourned."

Summoning up their courage, Homura spoke first after clearing his throat. "Hokage-sama, not to make light of the grave insult to your authority, but there is a subject being discussed already that you should help settle." He paused until he was certain he had her attention. "It has come to our attention that the mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha from the clutches of Orochimaru was a success, but there is question regarding if Naruto Uzumaki went too far to ensure success here."

Some of the civilians looked like they wanted to shout out derogatory comments about Naruto, but held their tongues since Tsunade was already ready to beat the crap out of someone who crossed her. A wise choice, since her next choice of words were quite angry. "How exactly did this come to your attention?"

"We asked our friends in the Anbu about why four genin, one chuunin, and a couple of jounin were sent out of the village all of a sudden." Koharu answered.

Tsunade frowned. "Anbu reports are confidential and not meant to be open access to anyone who happens to ask."

"We heard that the demon brat took the last Uchiha out of Konoha to kill him and pretended to be part of the search party to avoid suspicions. Is that true Hokage-sama?" Another civilian asked, changing the subject.

Tsunade glared. "Let me guess, you're either assuming that, or you heard that from someone you know full well hates Naruto. Doesn't anyone here actually want to here the truth, or does everyone just want to speculate and rant anti-Naruto propaganda?"

No one answered, but everyone did look curious about the details of the mission. Tsunade, still irritated, decided to get this over with. "Now, since everyone's so damn curious, here's the real facts about what just happened. Now, during a strange breach of security, four jounin level shinobi from Orochimaru's forces came to Sasuke Uchiha and convinced him to go with them to Orochimaru's side. Once I learned of this, I send out a team of jounin ninja to intercept them, but also requested chuunin Shikamaru Nara to assemble a second team to stop Orochimaru's men and bring the Uchiha back. Today I learned they succeeded in their objective, but several of those involved are undergoing major medical care to stabilize them so we cannot currently gain more details on what happened on the field."

"So the Uzumaki boy is not to blame for all this?" One of the more sensible civilians asked. She was a middle-aged brunette wearing a yellow shirt.

The civilian next to her, an older man with a pot belly and black hair, looked at her angrily. "You're an idiot if you believe that Shinju. Can you really believe that four enemy ninja got in and out of the village without being noticed, and got taken down one by one by mere _genin_, and that the last Uchiha would desert the village his ancestors helped to create?"

She glared back at him. "It makes more sense than the Uzumaki boy betraying us now by after fighting for us during the invasion rather than against us, or that the Uchiha would leave the village simply because one person annoyed him. If you all admit he's petty enough to leave the village because he can't stand being one-upped, then why do you respect him so much?"

"Sasuke Uchiha is not petty! He was abducted!" A different civilian shouted.

"Then why are people accusing Naruto of being responsible if you admit that?" Shikaku asked.

Koharu was the one to answer. "We found out that Sasuke is now is the prison hospital. Clearly he was unfairly attacked and Shikamaru says Naruto was the one to go after him personally after the others in the group were occupied elsewhere."

"Are you unaware that Naruto himself is in the hospital too? And suffered three direct chidori hits? A move known only to Kakashi Hatake... and Sasuke Uchiha?" Tsunade asked.

"Why is he not dead yet?" One of the civilians asked. "He should be executed for endangering the Uchiha like this."

There were a few murmurs of agreement, but before it could grow into a large cry for Naruto's death, Tsunade slammed her hand again. "Where the hell do you get off making such a demand? By all accounts, you're punishing him for doing his job."

"His job was to bring Sasuke back, not to endanger him." Koharu countered.

Tsunade glared at the older woman. "Sasuke had no restraints against endangering naruto. So was Naruto not allowed to defend himself or subdue Sasuke with force if he refused to comply?"

Tsume snarled at the civilians trying to come up with an excuse to justify the situation the way they wanted to see it as. "Enough you idiots. If Sasuke actually wanted to come back like you think, then why didn't he fight back against the Oto nin? You all claim he's the best in his age group, yet nothing was done until we sent out other genin to do something about it. So you have to admit Sasuke's either not as strong than you give him credit for, or he was trying to get away _with_ them."

"Even so, Naruto Uzumaki must still be punished for what he did." One of the more stubborn civilians stated.

Tsunade was even madder now. "That is not the point, and I think you all are deliberately missing that to avoid the real issue here. On what grounds do you have to justify such a course of action?"

"We need to make it clear to the boy that we will not tolerate him using the fox's power to endanger our more prominent shinobi." The same civilian replied.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow. "And what gives you reason to believe Naruto used any of the fox's chakra in the first place?"

"How else could he survive having three terrible wounds when one alone is enough to kill? The sand-using boy from Suna survived one and we all know he's a mosnter, so how else do you justify the Kyubi brat still breathing?"

"Why isn't someone killing him right now so we can be done with the son of a bitch once and for all?" A different civilian bitterly asked.

Tsunade punched the wall, creating a large crater. "First of all, Naruto will not be punished for doing his job, which was to bring Sasuke Uchiha back by _any_ means necessary. Punishing him for that will accomplish nothing other than creating hostility in all the ninja, who will fear what they may have to endure if they succeed or fail their own missions. Second of all, Shikamaru Nara was the one in charge of the team and gave Naruto the order to go after Sasuke solo while he and all the other members were otherwise unable to continue on their objective. That does not deserve punishment, but if you're so damn convinced it does, then Shikamaru Nara deserves punishment too since as team leader he is responsible for what the team does."

She cast Shikaku a glance to show she didn't agree with this but needed to get the point across. The Nara head understood completely.

Danzou surprised everyone by being the next to speak. "Hokage-sama is completely right. Naruto Uzumaki should be reminded to better control himself, and maybe some measures should be taken to help ensure that, but downright punishing him will cause more trouble than good."

That shut the civilians up. Danzou had always been sympathetic to their needs and concerns, but if he refused to take their side they lost a big factor in getting the results they wanted. He in fact was one of the biggest reasons they never got any ninja to actually kill Naruto, since he needed Naruto alive in order to use him.

Tsunade looked relieved. "Good, now that that's settled, Sasuke Uchiha does deserve punishment as he was not under orders and acted against the village. Whether you believe he left voluntarily or not, he was close to being acquired by Orochimaru and thus having the sharingan used against Konoha. It's likely that the snake will send more for him, so Sasuke needs to be kept out of sight to prevent anyone from taking him or him being able to leave a second time."

The shinobi all saw the wisdom in that while the civilians found it hard to argue that.

"I will determine Sasuke's punishment after hearing from the retrieval team to get all the facts in. If anyone tries acting before I declare anything official on anyone involved, they will be imprisoned for the rest of their life without bail or parole. No exceptions! Now, unless there's anything else on the agenda, I'm going to end this." Tsunade continued. No one said anything. "Good. Now go home people."

* * *

><p>Kushina arrived at the Valley of the End. "Naruto's been moved." She said, not seeing him anywhere nearby or even detecting any traces of him other than his blood on the ground. "Hmm... someone was here and took him away. Probably back to Konoha. I guess I better go there. Damn, it'll take me till noon tomorrow at least to get there."<p>

Still eager to see her son as soon as possible, she headed in the direction Konoha was. After a few minutes, she had to stop. "What's this?"

* * *

><p>"You wished to see me?" A male voice asked, his face hidden from view by a mask and most of his upper body obscured by shadows. All that could be clearly seen of him were his black pants and blue open-toed shinobi boots.<p>

"Yes. To put it simple, we want Tsunade out of office now." One of the three people meeting this hidden man said.

"She is not doing her duties properly and is turning blind eyes to the real threats while calling others threats instead." A second person added.

"And if that wasn't bad enough, she's trying to give the shinobi ideas that they don't have to work for the civilians, but rather we must submit to them. The nerve of her. The shinobi are here to be our servants, not the other way around." The third voice stated.

"You are aware that I'm a shinobi right?" The hidden man replied. "Why should I do as you ask and turn against the strongest one in the village just because some cowards are afraid of her?" His tone clearly showed he wasn't against the idea, but he was going to require some incentive before he did as asked.

The first voice sighed. "Every shinobi is a mercenary, meaning pay the right price and they'll do anything." They held out a bag full of ryo coins and bills, easily full with two years pay for a jounin.

The hidden man took the sack and checked to ensure it wasn't a fake bribe created by a genjutsu. Such a thing was not uncommon in underhanded situations such as this. "I think I can work something out. Though be aware that I will not be able to act until tomorrow. An operation such as this requires careful strategy, not impulse, and more manpower than I alone can provide."

The second person nodded. "Do what you must. Just ensure Tsunade is out of the picture and the Kyuubi brat is in hell where he belongs. We will take care of the rest."


	3. Chapter 3

_Recommended Story: 'The Black Death of Konoha' by afydith_

_Since I know people are curious, I just want to say I will not confirm who all is in the harem beforehand. The only members I will confirm are Hinata and Sakura, as required by the challenge. Also I want it to be clear that not every girl who acts nice to Naruto will become a member. He is allowed to know girls who are just friends after all._

Chapter Three

Late at night, Naruto finally opened his eyes. "Wh-where am I?" He quietly asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, not fully aware of his surroundings.

"Glad to see you're awake Naruto." Kakashi's voice was heard.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, his sight coming into focus. He saw he was in a hospital room resting on a bed with an IV attached to his right arm, and apparently something covering his right eye completely. Kakashi was seated beside him reading a book under a lamp and strangely enough, Sakura and Hinata were seated in two guest chairs alongside the wall. They looked like they had been asleep but were now waking up from the noise.

"Try not to move too much Naruto. You don't want to open your wounds, especially those types." Kakashi told him, then looked remorseful. "I'm terribly sorry about adding to them. I never though that Sasuke would... do such a horrendous thing."

"What did he do?" Naruto asked.

'He doesn't remember? The shock and the passing out must have made him forget.' The jounin thought.

Before he could answer Naruto's question, one of the girls embraced him in a hug. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto winced. "AGH! Not so tight!"

Hinata loosened her hold but did not relinquish it. Her body lightly trembled and sobs could be heard. "I was so worried you weren't going to make it."

Naruto began to soothingly rub her back. "It's okay Hinata-chan, I'm alright." The Hyuuga heiress surprised Kakashi and a now-awake Sakura by leaning up and kissing him again, and Naruto did not react like this was out of the ordinary for them.

Sakura smiled but felt her heart clench. 'I guess I waited a bit too long. Naruto, I hope you're happy with Hinata.'

Naruto seemed to now notice Sakura was in the room too and looked a bit nervous. "Oh, hi Sakura. I thought you would be home or with Sasuke now."

The pinkette shook her head. "No. I wanted to make sure you were going to wake up before I left, and even if I wanted to I couldn't see Sasuke right now anyway."

Naruto was confused. Sakura just referred to Sasuke without the kun suffix and said she wasn't able to see him or even interested in it. "Why? What happened?"

"Naruto, what's the last thing you remember?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto thought it over. "Umm... I fought Sasuke and beat him, though he didn't know when to quit. But before everything goes dark, I could have sworn I saw a woman claiming to be my mother."

"Your mother?" His three visitors repeated.

"Yeah. The weird thing was she said her name was Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze. Namikaze, like the Yondaime." Naruto said. "It had to be some sort of trick. Like I ever could be related to a guy like the Yondaime."

Kakashi immediately stiffened for a moment, something only Sakura noticed. "Kakashi-sensei, is something wrong?"

Realizing his mistake, but knowing he can't ignore the question, the former Anbu captain quickly thought over how best to answer. "Umm... I was just surprised, because the Yondaime did have a girlfriend named Kushina Uzumaki."

"Really?" Naruto asked, caught off-guard by this. 'Could this mean that wasn't a trick? Was she really my mother?'

"Naruto, where did you hear that name?" Kakashi asked. 'Just how informed is he? I thought he still didn't know who either of his parents were.'

Kakashi was well aware of who sired and birthed Naruto. Being the last student of Minato Namikaze did have it's advantages. He knew his sensei was secretly married; he was one of the witnesses to it. He also was one of Naruto's protectors, ensuring those that wanted to do harm to the boy growing up would not succeed. His only obstacle was that he was not allowed to raise Naruto without news of Naruto's parentage being required to be public to settle the nosy public, and Sarutobi would not allow that. As long as Naruto was anonymous, he was relatively safe. As a Namikaze, he was a target to everyone, especially the mysterious person Minato said attacked during Naruto's birth. That concerned Sarutobi more than Iwa. If Iwa invaded, Konoha would fight back to defend themselves and save Minato's son. But if the masked man who knew about Kushina and the Kyuubi came back, that was too unpredictable for the Sandaime's likings.

"After the fight, when all I could see for some reason was an orange light. A woman with long red hair and violet eyes came to me and called me her son. She told me her name and said she was coming back to me." Naruto answered. "She also sounded a little upset, saying something like someone she didn't like kept her away all this time and she thought she'd be here sooner."

'Wait. Is it possible Kushina... _didn't_ die that night?' Kakashi asked himself. 'But then, where did she go? And why is it only now she can come back.' "Naruto, if this woman _does _show up, promise me you won't go anywhere with her until I get a chance to speak with her."

"Do you know her?" Naruto asked.

"I did know a woman by that name, but she's been dead for a long time. If this somehow is her, I want to know."

"Was she really Naruto's mother Sensei?" Sakura asked. Even Hinata looked curious to know.

Kakashi withheld the need to sigh. "I'm afraid I'm forbidden from saying anything. Naruto's origins are kept unclear for a reason, a reason I'm not at liberty to say. But if this woman does show up, I suppose that reason will become moot."

* * *

><p>Naruto and his visitors soon went back to sleep and stayed with him that night. Hinata had to reluctantly let go of him and sleep in a chair. In the morning, Kakashi had to go check on Sasuke to make sure he wasn't anywhere he wasn't supposed to be. Sakura and Hinata didn't have anywhere to be so they stayed with Naruto and played a few available games. For a brief time they did leave so Hinata could check on Kiba and Sakura could check on Lee, but both came back.<p>

The entire time they were there, Hinata was not ashamed to be close to Naruto and he did nothing to keep her away. Sakura was still confused but avoided asking anything so they wouldn't begin to feel bad about what they were doing. But the strangest thing of all was she found herself feeling a bit jealous. Not an angry territorial jealous like she felt when Ino got around Sasuke, but more of a yearning desire to be treated special by Naruto too. She didn't understand it, but she did know that for some reason Naruto actually felt a bit more appealing to her.

Night came and this time the two girls had to go home. Fortunately Tsunade declared that was the day he could go home too. She didn't understand how, but Naruto was almost completely healed of his injuries. The only abnormality was a strange condensation of orange chakra at the base of Naruto's spine that Hinata pointed out. Tsunade couldn't make any sense of it and wanted one more look tomorrow morning, but as long as it wasn't doing anything she saw no reason it would keep him in the hospital.

Naruto laid awake in his bed, wondering about the possibility of seeing his real mother again. There were so many questions he had for her. Where did she go? Why did she go? Why couldn't she take him with her? Was she really the wife of the Yondaime, making him his son too? Did she love him? And... what was her favorite flavor of ramen?

Naruto was currently looking out the window as the sun was setting, as if hoping his mother would come in thru the window like Jiraiya was known to. Oddly enough, the pervy sage hadn't shown up yet. 'Probably just busy looking at girls, trying to see their nice wet... WHOA! Where did that come from?'

A knock at his door was a welcome distraction. "Come in." He said.

The door opened and two girls walked in. One was older than him and the other younger, and the younger immediately came up to him. "Boss!"

"Hey Moegi, nice to see you. I heard from Konohamaru and Udon you were busy when they came by earlier." Naruto told his follower.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better Naruto." His other visitor stated. He saw this was Moegi's mother whom he's seen off and on throughout town.

"Hi Shinju-san. Thanks for coming by. Though would the other 'honorable' civilians get mad at you for seeing me?"

"Oh screw them. It's not like I need their permission for anything. Besides, my daughter's allowed to see her rescuer." Shinju told him teasingly. She knew her daughter admired Naruto, but ever since before the chuunin exams when a disguised Iruka kidnapped her and Naruto saved her, Moegi seemed to admire him almost to a Hinata-degree. Shinju thought it was cute given her age, and saw no harm in the young girl liking Naruto. It probably wouldn't last, and she could do worse.

"Oh, before I forget, the real reason I came by was because I was given this by one of the other council members." Shinju added before pulling out an envelope. "I mentioned I was going to see you tonight, and one of them asked me to give this to you. I thought it was weird since given their attitude most of them don't want to give you anything less than death, but I took it and brought it here." Naruto took it. "Umm... Naruto, before you open it, could you maybe make a clone and have it open the letter away from here? Just in case it contains a bomb or anthrax or something like that."

Naruto nodded and created a clone. When he did, he noticed his chakra acted a bit weird this time, but he brushed it off. The clone went outside to an empty training ground and opened the envelope. There were no explosives or dangerous substances inside but after reading the contents, the clone was so shocked and offended that it lost it's balance when running back and it tripped and landed hard enough to be dispelled.

Naruto immediately got the clones memories and gasped. "Those bastards!"

"What is it?" Both Moegi and Shinju asked.

Naruto threw off his blanket and rushed to get dressed in a spare jumpsuit Kakashi had brought him. "I need to get out of here and to Baa-chan before they get started." In his rush, he completely ignored the fact he didn't know why he had his clones memories.

* * *

><p>Tsunade was sound asleep in her house, with Shizune in the next room. Fortunately, years of experience as a sannin and a lack of heavy drinking allowed Tsunade to still be alert when sleeping. She opened her eyes the moment the window downstairs was opened.<p>

'Someone's trying to get in, and my gut tells me it's not Jiraiya hoping to see me in my nightgown.' She told herself, silently getting on her feet and putting her gambler's jacket over her white nightie. She wouldn't open her bedroom door, knowing the sound would alert the intruder and make them act faster. At the same time, she was cautious that this might be a diversion and the real problem would come from behind.

Soon there was no noise, and that made Tsunade all the more unsettled. 'Ok, either a silencer jutsu has just been performed, or they're not being careless. Either way, it's ninja who know what they're doing and they're in the hokage's house. This can not go unpunished.'

Not wanting to scare them off, because she can't prosecute them if they escape, Tsunade as careful as humanly possible opened her door and got into the hall. The first thing she saw was Shizune, just as alert and dressed in a pair of black pajamas with a nervous Tonton at her feet. The two women made eye contact and nodded, both knowing what to do.

'Now it feels like a waiting game. We're both waiting for the other to make a move so we can retaliate as desired.' Tsunade thought after noticing there still was no sound. She was getting impatient. 'Well I'm not going to wait forever for something to happen.'

Fortunately, she didn't have to.

* * *

><p>As soon as he reached the house, Naruto was concerned. The door was wide open and there were Anbu posted around the perimeter, not a good sign. He instinctively came to a stop before they could see him. Shinju and Moegi were following him but hadn't caught up yet since they didn't have his stamina.<p>

'Damn, they're starting already. Well not on my watch.' Naruto angrily thought. The spot on his lower back was starting to burn, but he ignored it. Instead he made a large amount of clones, aggravating the spot moreso, and sent them in.

The Anbu were caught by surprise but only one was taken down. The others started fighting off the clones and killing them, but the numbers never seemed to cease. Fortunately, Naruto didn't plan on them beating the Anbu, instead they were there to distract them while he snuck inside. With so many Naruto's around, no one could tell for certain which was the real one, who happened to be one of three that made it inside the building.

Inside the main room of the house were three Anbu, all three looking upset to see him. "Baa-chan! Someone's trying to-" One of the clones shouted out, only to be killed by a thrown kunai.

"You shouldn't be interfering boy." The center Anbu, the only one wearing a white outfit instead of a black one and having the Anbu insignia on his vest too, said to Naruto with disdain. He wore a mask that looked like some kind of rodent with stripes. The one on his left bore some kind of bird pattern, and the one on his right looked like some kind of lizard.

"Like hell I won't. I saw the message from the council. You're here to hurt the hokage." The other Naruto clone said. This time the Anbu didn't attack, uncertain if this would be worth it.

"This is none of your business. The hokage has proven she is unfit for the job and the council has voted to remove her from office. Village law says the council can remove the hokage from office if they have reason to believe they're abusing their power." The white Anbu told the blonde.

Both Naruto's looked madder. "Like hell! I know that law, Jiji told me about it. The council has to vote unanimously for such a thing with both sides. And I doubt the clan heads were even asked otherwise more than just the Anbu would be here. And I know for a fact one civilian member did not vote for this. You're breaking the law and you know it!"

"Oh shut up you beast." The bird Anbu said before throwing a kunai at both. One dispelled but the other kawarimi'ed with one of Tsunade's cushions, putting him behind the trio.

Naruto lunged forward and threw a punch at the nearest Anbu, the lizard one. He blocked it, but Naruto added a kick to his stomach for added measure. It stunned him, but the other two members rushed in with weapons ready to gut Naruto like a fish. Before they could, Tsunade came forward and punched them both.

"Get the hell out of my house! And consider yourself fired!" Tsunade shouted to the Anbu.

"Baa-chan! You okay?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I heard the whole thing. Now let's get rid of these bastards." Tsunade said, cracking her knuckles. The white Anbu tried to get up, but Tsunade grabbed his vest and lifted him up as Shizune came into the room. "You're the head of the Anbu. Correction-_former_ head. Tell me who put you up to this and I might go easy on you."

The Anbu head just laughed this off. "Go to hell demon lover. You're still under arrest for leaving the village all those years and refusing to listen to the voices of the council. That shows your loyalty to Konoha is questionable and you're ignoring the needs and concerns of the civilians. You are going to be removed from office even if you stop me here and you will be kept away to breed more Senju. More sensible, obedient Senju that is." He finished with another laugh. Tsunade punched him right in the jaw. If his jaw or neck wasn't broken now, nothing would break it.

Before she could do more, a scream outside could be heard, catching the attentions of Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune. Since it was a woman's scream, Naruto headed back out. He was mortified to see that the gathered Anbu that hadn't gone chasing after some of Naruto's clones now had Moegi and her mother in holds with kunais at both their necks.

Naruto glared, his eyes turned red with black slits, and red chakra forming around him. But this time, there was orange mixed in with the red, with nothing but orange at the base of his spine, noticeable only by Tsunade and Shizune at the moment. "Let them go now!"

"How about I do this instead?" The Anbu holding Shinju said before thrusting his kunai into the back of her neck. "Take that demon-supporting bitch!"

"MOM?" Moegi screamed, trying to kick herself loose. Fortunately her own captor wasn't as eager to kill.

Naruto froze up, then got mad enough that his own tail cloak was starting to form with fangs and claws included. But unlike the last time, this time the chakra tail was entirely orange, no red at all.

'What's going on?' Tsunade asked regarding the strange orange chakra.

Shinju looked at the enraged jinchuuriki. "Naruto, keep my daughter safe. Moegi... I... love... you..." She closed her eyes and coughed up some blood.

Moegi broke down in sobs, while Naruto jumped at the Anbu who murdered her defenseless mother. Using chakra claws, he ripped the masked man's head off with little effort. He turned his gaze towards the Anbu holding Moegi. He let the young girl go and escaped.

Moegi ran to her mother, checking for any sign of life. Naruto dropped his cloak and checked with her. Neither found any, causing Moegi to sob into the blonde's shoulder as he held her comfortingly.

Shizune gasped. "Tsunade-sama, do you see what I see?" She asked, pointing at Naruto with a shaky hand. Tsunade nodded.

Naruto now had a tail. Not a chakra tail, but a dark-colored flesh tail with a spearhead tip.


	4. Chapter 4

_Recommended Story: 'Naruto's True Nindo' by Kyuubi123_

Chapter Four

Naruto now had a tail. Not a chakra tail, but a dark-colored flesh tail with a spearhead tip. And he didn't even seem to notice it.

Shizune whispered to Tsunade. "M'lady...?"

"I know Shizune, but right now we've got a bigger problem. For instance, where are all the other Anbu? This clearly was not the entire force so if this was only a fraction then why didn't anyone intervene? For that matter, why is no one appearing right now to see what happened?"

Shizune gasped thinking it over. "You're right. What's going on?"

Tsunade stepped forward. "Naruto!" She called out, gaining the boy's attention. "Help me take her body to the hospital. And create as many clones as you can and find every Anbu and clan head you can. Tell them I sent you and see how they react. Gather all the non-traitorous ones and bring them to the hospital. We need to see who all is still on my side here."

Naruto nodded and let go of Moegi before creating hundreds of clones that ran out in every possible direction. He turned to help Tsunade carefullly lift Shinju's body, making Moegi gasp. "Boss, when did you get a tail?"

"A tail?" Naruto repeated, completely clueless to her question. "I don't have a tail."

"Then what's that behind you?" Moegi asked.

Naruto felt his backside and quickly found a new appendage. "What the hell? Where did that come from?"

"I'll have to check that out too but for now let's focus on her." Tsunade said picking up Shinju. 'I don't think I can save her, but if there's a chance I better try.'

Naruto ignored his new feature and helped Tsunade take the civilian councilwoman's body to the hospital with Shizune and Moegi following.

* * *

><p>"I'm serious Ino. Sasuke was trying to <em>kill<em> Naruto." Sakura told her friend, both girls inside the Yamanake flower shop. Ino's parents were out on a date that night so this felt like a good spot as any to have a talk.

"Really? But why? Wasn't Naruto sent out to save Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked.

"He was. But the problem was Sasuke didn't want to be rescued. I saw it Ino. Sasuke had a chance to come home, he was away from Orochimaru's henchmen and there was no one stopping him, but he chose to fight Naruto instead. He even used that lightning jutsu he used in the chuunin exams on Naruto _twice_. That move is an assassination move, so why would he use it in a friendly spar? He even tried using it on Naruto here in town before he left too. Sasuke honestly wanted Naruto _dead_!"

Ino was appalled. "But why would he do that? I mean, Naruto may not be the easiest person to be around, but I wouldn't say he deserves to die."

"I think... Sasuke's jealous of Naruto." Sakura suggested.

Ino arched an eyebrow. "Sasuke-kun? Jealous? Of Naruto? Why?"

"Why else would he feel so compelled to beat Naruto? It's not like he would get rewarded for it. The way I see it, Sasuke wants to beat Naruto just to reassure himself he can, and that could only mean he's jealous or threatened by Naruto." The pinkette said.

"But why would he be like that?" Ino asked.

"Ino, Naruto's a better person than we give him credit for. I mean, there is a reason Hinata likes him so much. Oh, you're not going to believe this, but apparently Naruto and Hinata are an item now."

"What?" Ino came close to screaming. "How? When? Why?"

"I don't know. I never got a chance to ask either of them. I didn't want to make them feel scrutinized while they were having such a good time together. But I think it was soon, since Naruto has been rather aloof to me lately. Even when I was on that date with him to talk to him he acted like he wasn't all there."

"Wait a minute. You actually went on a date with Naruto?" Ino asked.

Sakura looked down, saddened. "Kind of. It was more like a meal between friends so we could talk, but I called it a date to get Naruto to agree to it. If he wasn't already with Hinata by then, I certainly didn't give him any reason not to, and if he was, he probably didn't know how to turn me down."

Ino could sense the remorse in her friend's voice. "What happened?"

Sakura was a bit hesitant to answer. "I was confused about Sasuke and hoped that by talking to Naruto about it he could help me know what I wanted. He tried to reassure me that Sasuke wouldn't do anything wrong but I don't think either one of us really believed that. After that he cut it short, he probably saw that I had other things on my mind than spending time with him and felt hurt. I don't know, but I feel like maybe I hurt him."

"So? Naruto will get over it and be back to his normal self in no time. Don't beat yourself over it Forehead." The blonde mindwalker callously commented.

The pinkette lightly frowned at her friend. "That was uncalled for Pig."

Ino frowned back. "Well why do you care so much? You never cared how Naruto felt before so why now? I've seen you hit him like it's a reflex. And now his feelings are hurt and suddenly you feel bad? Before we get to my attitude, let's cover yours."

Sakura jerked back a bit but didn't argue. Instead she looked remorseful again. "You're right, I'm a horrible friend. But at least I've learned to admit it and am willing to change it. Would you do the same Ino?"

Ino shrugged. "Why should I? Naruto's never been my friend. I don't hate the guy but I've never even said more than one sentence to him at a time. Why should that change now?"

"Because someday you may have to work with Naruto and depend on him for something like I have. Do you really want there to be a wedge between you when it happens?" Sakura asked back.

Ino was confused by this sudden new attitude Sakura had. "Sakura, since when do you care what Naruto thinks? I mean Sasuke-kun's the only boy you would even give the time of day to and even last week he was the only boy you mentioned by name without someone else bringing them up first. So why now the change of heart?"

"You really want to know why Ino?" Sakura quietly asked, as if afraid to be heard. Her friend nodded. "Ok, the truth is-"

"DIE DEMON SCUM!" A voice screamed outside.

Both girls bolted out of their chairs and looked towards outside the store where the shout came from. From the window they saw a bunch of Naruto's fighting an Anbu in the street. One of them knocked on the door. "Ino? You there? I need to see your father! Now!"

Sakura reacted first and opened the door. "Naruto? What's going on?"

"Some crazy shit's going on and the Anbu are turning against the Hokage. I'm trying to find all the ones who aren't and all the clan heads too. Where's Yamanaka-san?"

"He's out with my mom." Ino answered, still processing all this.

"Where? The sooner I find him, the better." Naruto asked.

"I think they're either at the theater or at the Akimichi restaurant." Ino told him.

"Thanks." Naruto said before turning around and heading back out, avoid the Anbu who now gave chase.

Ino was wide-eyed. "The Anbu are rebeling? Why?"

"I don't know, but that's not all. I don't know how to explain it, but I could swear Naruto had a tail." Sakura stated.

* * *

><p>Hinata was about to get ready for a bath then bed when she heard something at her window. Immediately worried, she instinctively activated her byakugan and saw Naruto perched on her windowsill. "Naruto-kun?" She asked as she opened the window. "What's wrong?"<p>

"Hinata-chan, I can't stay long. Please get your father and tell him the Anbu are rebelling and the Hokage needs his help immediately to keep them from succeeding. Can you do this?"

Hinata silently gasped then nodded. "Of course I will Naruto-kun."

"Thanks. I better get going before anyone dispels me. Just promise me you'll stay safe." Naruto said before giving her a light kiss then leaving, without waiting for her to respond.

'Naruto-kun, good luck, and please stay safe too.' She told herself before heading towards her father.

* * *

><p>Tsunade did the best diagnostic scan she knew over Shinju, only to find the results everyone feared were true. "I'm sorry, but she's gone." Moegi broke out in tears, and Tsunade had a night duty nurse take the body to the morgue. She then looked at Naruto. "Naruto, I need to get to the hokage tower to get control of this situation. Please get this girl somewhere safe then get to the tower right away. And while you're at it, try to hide that tail. It's likely to only create more problems in the ninja and that's the last thing we need."<p>

Naruto nodded and tucked his new tail under his orange top as best he could before lifting Moegi onto his back. This put a lot of weight on his tail which ached but he ignored it. 'Where should I take her? Her place might be a target now, and my place is even unsafer under the circumstances. How about Konohamaru's? That might work.'

The whiskered blonde immediately took off to the youngest Sarutobi's house.

Tsunade at the same time headed towards the hokage tower. 'Who's behind this. That Anbu talked like he was enjoying this, but I don't believe he was doing this uncoursed. Someone put him up to this, someone who wanted me and Naruto out of the picture. And since they're acting now, that can only mean this is connected to the Uchiha's betrayal. In that case, this must mean someone on the civilian council does not like my ruling and is willing to break the law to get what they want, and even a good portion of the shinobi are on their side. Bunch of egotistical fuckers.'

Along the way one of Naruto's clones came up to her. "Baa-chan, I think you may want to see this. It's what made me come to you right away tonight." The clone held out the letter that Shinju had given Naruto earlier and was left behind in the training field, until a clone went to retrieve it.

"Thanks Naruto, now get back out there and find help." Tsunade told the clone who quickly departed. She read the letter, and saw red.

_Naruto Uzumaki, you are hereby stripped of your status as genin and effectively banned from ever having a claim to ninja title, rank, status, or property including equipment from this day forth per orders of the council. Reasons for this, which we are only giving because we're legally required to, not that an abomination such as yourself deserves such courtesy, are because you have proven yourself a threat in our eyes to our more competent and valuable shinobi and you are influencing the younger generation in a bad way as well as controlling the hokage somehow. Do not bother having your puppet hokage get you out of this as she is effective immediately removed from office too and we will decide an appropriate replacement while she suffers for her crimes._

It was signed 'Council of Konoha', but there was only the civilian seal on it. The shinobi seal was completely absent. 'Oh I'm going to tear these assholes a new one. And then I'm going to get started on the serious beating.' Suddenly, she stopped. 'Or maybe... I could make this work to my advantage.'

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, seeing her mentor stop walking.

"Shizune, how long does it take to mend a broken body?" Tsunade asked casually, resuming her walk.

Shizune and Tonton were immediately confused. "Umm... it depends on the extent of the damage and the effectiveness of the treatment given."

"True. And how long does it take to mend a broken ego?" The slug sannin added.

The brunette and pig were even more confused now. "That... cannot be treated by anything less than time and acceptance of the situation that bruised it. Tsunade-sama, what are you getting at? We're in a serious situation here."

"I know. Which is why I'm asking this. Tell me Shizune, what's crueler to do to someone with a superiority complex? Break some bones, or break their prides?"

"M'lady, speak stop speaking in riddles."

"Alright, but I'll have to tell you the rest later when we get to the office."

* * *

><p>Thanks to Naruto's clones, all the clan heads and some of the Anbu were brought to Tsunade's office. "Ok everyone, we've got a crisis here. Not more than thirty minutes ago I was attacked in my own home by our own Anbu, led by the current head of the department. He declared me removed from office and under arrest and quarantine as if he had the authority to do such as thing. Naruto got warning of this and came to help me out, and under my orders gathered you all here."<p>

"Any idea who is behind this Hokage-sama?" Shikaku asked.

Tsunade showed him the notice. "This was given to Naruto while he was recovering in the hospital and brought to me by him while the Anbu were attempting to catch me off guard. You tell me who looks like the responsible party."

The notice was passed between a growing number of maddening shinobi all ranked jounin or higher. "The nerve of these bastards. If I had hellhounds I'd sic them on them all right now." Tsume growled.

"What are your orders Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asked.

Tsunade smirked. "If I'm removed from office, I can't give orders, can I?"

All the ninja including Shizune were caught by surprise by that remark. "Excuse me?" Inoichi asked.

"I didn't come back to this village to get bossed around by idiots with more ego than courage or common sense. Some people here, I'm assuming most of the civilian council if not all of them, are trying to claim authority they don't have, and apparently some of the shinobi are on their side. Since each clan has active members in the Anbu ranks, I need to know right this instant who hears approves of the idea that Konoha is better off with new leadership?" Tsunade said, her gaze sharp enough to cut steel at the end.

None of them argued with her. "Hokage-sama, we support you. You can do the job well rather than some figurehead leader that the civilians would favor but would barely know how to do the job right. So what do you plan to do about this?" Shikaku told her.

"The problem is deciding what to do when considering the consequences. Not too long ago we were invaded and that alone makes us vulnerable to our enemies. An internal struggle over leadership and control of our ninja will only make the village a bigger target. With that in mind, a decision must be reached and achieved immediately for best results." Shibi stated.

Tsunade nodded. "Which is why I have an idea that may work. It's a long shot, and I know I'm not the best gambler, but this might just work for us." The others were interested to hear what she was going to say.

* * *

><p>Naruto brought Moegi to Konohamaru's home, and after assured she was going to be safe went back out to find Tsunade. 'I guess the people who hate me ran out of patience and are finally doing something about it. Well I always knew this day might come. I just wish I could have had more time with Hinata-chan. I'll miss her, but at least she'll be safe and-'<p>

He was cut off by a cluster of poorly aimed kunais coming at him from his left. He stopped and looked left, seeing an alley in between two buildings. He saw someone hiding in the shadows. "Who the hell are you?" Naruto shouted. The figure turned and ran off. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" He ran after the hidden attacker, despite his inner guts warning him not to.

Out of the shadows, Naruto could see his surprise assaulter was dressed in black with a grey vest, reminding him of normal high-ranked ninja attire. Thinking quickly, Naruto formed a clone and got a rasengan started on the run. Once it was done, they both jumped at the clone grabbed Naruto and spun him around to give him momentum before throwing him towards the running nin.

The rasengan made impact in the ninja's back, causing a decent amount of damage and making him fall forward. Naruto grabbed the back of his collar and turned him around. "Tell me who you're working for!"

The attacker turned out to be a man about six or so years older then Naruto with dark grey hair and dull green eyes but no expression on his face, though there was a bit or mirth in his eyes. "You'll never know, for you've fallen for my trap." All of a sudden six more ninja dressed identically and looking as stoic as the first one appeared surrounding Naruto.

"Come with us Uzumaki. If you surrender, you will live but be put to proper use. Refuse and you will go to hell with the other demons." One of the six surrounders told him.

"I don't surrender. Now or ever." Naruto said before forming his favorite hand sign. All the grey-vested shinobi threw kunais at him, but luckily Naruto formed enough clones to take the hits for him. Unfortunately they were prepared for this and threw a second wave, hitting Naruto this time. He remained on his feet, but his body was already sore and taxed from all the recent activity after healing from his severe injuries.

"It's a shame. You would have made a great weapon, but unfortunately you're a hard fox to domesticate." One of the ninja with long brown hair stated, pulling out a tanto with his comrades doing the same as if hoping to finish the job now.

All of a sudden, the air pressure increased. It was like the feeling one got when exposed to a great amount of KI, only this time it had a physical effect to it as well. Their bodies felt like something was crushing down upon them and their vision got darker and slightly blurrier. Naruto appeared fine but confused when his ambushers suddenly fell to their knees. "What... is this?" The brown-haired one asked.

Naruto looked around, unable to feel anything different, until he heard a thud behind him. He turned and saw someone new appeared.

"Naruto?" The newcomer asked.

It was the woman he saw at the Valley of the End, the one who claimed to be his mother.


	5. Chapter 5

_Recommended Story: 'Kurenai Chishio Yoroi' by Dreaded Rasengan_

Chapter Five

"Naruto?" She asked.

Naruto himself was unsure how to react. Here was the woman who came to him in a strange vision just the other day, calling herself his mother. Part of Naruto wanted to believe this really was his mother returned from wherever she had been, but another part of him was certain this was some kind of trick. That part was the part that was winning in his mental struggle, mostly for one reason.

"If you're my mom, where have you been all this time?" Naruto suddenly asked, sounding a bit harsh but it was understandable. Name one orphan who wouldn't ask that when someone claiming to be their mother suddenly showed up after over a decade of being apart.

Kushina looked sad, not hurt sad but more apologetic sad. "I promise you Naruto I will tell you everything, but right here right now is not the best time."

"Then I'm going to get someone to confirm your identity." Naruto said.

Kushina nodded. "That's fair." Her eyes widened when she saw his new tail. "You've got your tail?" She then smiled. "That's terrific."

Naruto was surprised. "Why is that? And why did you say _your_ tail and not _a_ tail?"

Kushina turned around, suddenly a tail of her own appeared from the end of her spine just like Naruto. The only difference was hers was a little longer and the end was shaped more like a heart than a spearhead. "These are normal for our kind. But more on that later." She turned around and the tail disappeared.

"_Our_ kind?" Naruto asked, still surprised. "What are you? What am I?"

"More on that later Naruto. Now, is something going on here or not?"

Now Naruto remembered what he had been doing. "Oh right. Baa-chan's got a crisis. I should probably get back to her now."

"Is it alright if I come with you?" Kushina asked.

"Right now I'd prefer it." Naruto answered, before both headed towards the hokage tower.

* * *

><p>"You can't be serious." Tsume said after Tsunade finished explaining her idea. All of the other ninja looked shocked by it too.<p>

Tsunade nodded. "I know it's a risk, but it's the only way to drive the point across and ensure something like this doesn't happen again. Can anyone think up a better idea?"

"Yes. Remove the civilian council from power and put new members in their place." Shikaku told her.

The hokage shook her head. "There's no way of knowing just how far the influence of the civilian goes. Look outside, some of the shinobi are taking orders from them, and it's likely that's not all. They likely already have a contingency plan for if they ever are removed from power and can influence their replacements. Your suggestion, while fitting, is mostly a band-aid idea, and we need something that does more than soothes the problem."

"Your idea will only make things worse." Inoichi told her.

Tsunade looked undaunted. "Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better."

Shibi spoke up. "Hokage-sama, I will admit that if your idea works, the problem will effectively be eliminated, but how can you ensure it will work? And what do you have planned in case things do not go as expected?"

"I admit this will make Konoha a bit of a target to others, but that is while I will be working on my contingency plan in the meantime. It will take me some time, but during that time Konoha should not ruin itself to the point of destruction. If it does, then as shinobi I hope you do the smart thing. When I have everything set up, I will contact all the clan heads and tell them to begin their part and inform everyone they know who supports our cause."

"This is still risky, but... I can't help but feel you may succeed." Chouza stated, crossing his arms.

"That's the spirit." Tsunade said with a smile.

Hiashi sighed. "Since we apparently cannot change your mind on this, who will accompany you in this endeavor?"

"I'm thinking my apprentice and Naruto for starters to minimize suspicion. Since it is hard to guarantee anyone's loyalty right now, I'm afraid I will not be able to get much more right away."

Kakashi stepped forward. "If I may Hokage-sama, I ask that you consider taking my other student Sakura too."

"Will you not be able to train her yourself Kakashi?" Tsunade asked.

"I could, but I'm concerned that someone is going to try to get Sasuke out of prison and absolve him of anything he's being charged with. Such an event would require my uninterrupted attention so I could take immediate action. Plus, it would help to get Sakura away from her parents. I've heard they are both strong supporters of the civilian council so if things happen as you predict they will try to drag Sakura into the problem."

"Interesting point. I will look into the possibility." Tsunade told him. "Ok everyone, you know your roles in this. Start as soon as possible. Dismissed." Everyone nodded, even if a bit reluctantly, then left the office.

* * *

><p>Out in the streets the chaos appeared to have died down and there were no more Naruto clones running around chasing or fighting Anbu nin. Some Anbu ninja were still out but it was impossible to tell what they were doing. They were likely looking for Naruto, but to what end was a mystery to everyone except themselves.<p>

Sakura and Ino were out looking for Naruto too. Actually, Sakura was looking for him and Ino was mostly following Sakura. After Naruto's clone left the Yamanaka shop, the two girls were concerned about what was going on. Ino could have waited for her parents to return home, but Sakura couldn't and wanted to find Naruto to see what was going on and if she could help out. He had to be far from his best given he had been at the hospital only hours ago.

"Sakura stop!" Ino called out, only to be ignored. "Even if you do find Naruto, what do you plan to accomplish?"

"More than I would if I stand around and wait for it to be over." Sakura replied, tears in her eyes. 'As soon as I saw Naruto all bandaged up like that, I promised that no one would have to suffer because I was too weak to contribute anything on my own part. I can't let Naruto get in danger AGAIN while I stand back and just watch. I have to do something.'

Both kunoichi had to stop and catch their breaths, leaning against a building as they did so. "Do you have any... idea where he even is?" Ino asked as she panted.

"I think the hospital is a good place to start, and if he's not there we can find Hinata. She should find him quicker then we ever could." Sakura answered.

"Then why not go to her first?" Ino asked.

"No need to worry her until we know whether or not Naruto's at the hospital." The pinkette answered before running out again. Ino groaned and followed again.

Ironically, when they turned a corner, they saw Hinata out heading towards the hokage tower. "Hinata?" Sakura called out.

The Hyuuga heiress turned to face the other two girls but didn't stop moving. "Sakura? Ino? What are you two doing?"

"The same thing you likely are. Looking for Naruto." Sakura answered.

Hinata nodded, and now Sakura and Ino could see her byakugan was active. "I'm concerned too. A clone of his came by to warn me, but I couldn't stay away knowing he'd be in danger. Right now he's heading towards the hokage and there's a woman I've never seen before accompanying him."

"So Hinata, is it true you and Naruto are-?" Ino started.

"Now's not the time Ino." Sakura cut her off.

* * *

><p>Kakashi went out to find Naruto and bring him to Tsunade. Fortunately, Naruto ended up inadvertently coming to him. "Kakashi-sensei!"<p>

The cycloptic jounin stopped in front of his student. "Naruto, Hokage-sama needs-" He stopped when he saw the woman behind the whiskered blonde. "Ku-Kushina? Is that really you?"

"Hey Kakashi, it's been a while." The red-haired woman told her husband's student.

"So you really did contact Naruto earlier when he said you did?"

Kushina nodded. "I would have been here sooner, but I misjudged the distance to Konoha. Also I found something that briefly tied me up. Anyway, wasn't there something you were trying to tell my son?"

"Kakashi-sensei, is she really my mom?" Naruto asked, sounding desperate for an answer.

Kakashi looked at Kushina, looking for any indication that she was not the real deal. Kushina smiled. "I caught you kissing Rin-chan without your mask in the alley behind the theater one night in the summer while you two were still chuunin."

"Ok, you're the real Kushina." Kakashi stated. "So Naruto, that means that she really is your mother." Naruto looked up at the woman in wonder and uncertainly, like he didn't know what really to feel right now. "But we've cover that later. Naruto, Hokage-sama really needs to see you now. Are you the real Naruto?" The blonde nodded. "Good. Follow me back to her. Kushina, please come along."

Kushina and Naruto then followed Kakashi, but he wasn't taking them to the hokage tower.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"I'm taking you to the hokage Naruto. I never said where she was, did I?"

* * *

><p>Hinata suddenly changed directions. "Now he's going this way. This is good. We can catch up to him sooner like this."<p>

This direction took them to outside the Forest of Death, where Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton were waiting. Standing back being covered in the foliage, they saw Naruto, Kakashi, and a woman they never saw before appear before them.

Tsunade faltered when she saw the redhead. "Kushina? Impossible."

"Hi you old bat. The years have not been kind to you." Kushina greeted with a grin and teasing tone but a friendly wave.

Tsunade got mad and reflexively threw a punch. Completely calm, Kushina kept her waving hand up and blocked the hit, looking and acting like she was catching a ball being tossed to her. Naruto and Shizune dropped their jaws at this sight.

Tsunade pulled her fist back. "Only one person has ever been able to block me like that. You _are_ Kushina. Where have you been you teasing tomboy?"

"I've been fighting a war just to gain the right to come back here, among other reasons. But more on that later. What's going on here tonight?"

"A war?" Tsunade repeated, then frowned. "You're lying. Such news could not possibly be kept secret. Tell me the truth Kushina."

"I'm not lying. I was in a war. Just not here in the Elemental Nations. I was in another kingdom fighting to get the tyrant out of power. I'm only able to be here now because the fighting is over and I want to see my son." Kushina defended.

"Well fighting just started up here and we better get Naruto out of the danger zone." The slug sannin told her.

"What? But I can help out." Naruto stated.

"Naruto, the best way you can help out is to not get involved." Shizune told the young boy. Tonton oinked in agreement.

"You will have to explain yourself Kushina, but for now, Kakashi, go find Sakura and bring her here if you want her to be a part of this." Tsunade said.

Before Kakashi could move, Sakura emerged from her hiding spot. "I'm here! What do you need me for?" She called out.

"Sakura? What are you doing here? And how did you find us?" Kakashi asked.

"I was concerned about what Naruto was getting involved in." Sakura answered.

Hinata stepped out too. "M-me too. And I... I led her to Naruto-kun." She looked like she was expecting to be punished for this.

"Anyone else with you?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the bushes.

Ino came out. "Just me. I tagged along."

"You and Hinata should go home right now." Kakashi ordered.

"Why?" Ino asked.

"Because you wouldn't have any role here." The cycloptic jounin told the blonde mindwalker.

"You girls better say goodbye to Naruto now because this will be the last time you'll see him for a long time." Tsunade told the two heiresses, trying to be considerate.

Hinata looked shocked. "No!" She shouted as she lunged at Naruto, engulfing him in a hug. "I just got him! You can't take him away so soon like this!"

"Hinata-chan-" Naruto started, but stopped when she tearfully gazed at him.

"Take me with you Naruto-kun. Please?" She asked in a way that would break most people's resolve and with eyes that would even make the Puppy Eye Jutsu cave in.

Naruto looked at Tsunade, who sighed. "Hinata, I haven't even told Naruto about this mission. Sakura can go because of certain circumstances, but those don't apply to you." She looked at Ino. "Ino Yamanaka, please return home."

Ino left, albeit reluctantly, but Hinata refused to budge. Kushina smiled and stepped up to the bluenette. "Hi there little lady. Are you my future daughter-in-law?" Hinata blushed so much you'd swear every drop of blood in her body was in her face. Kushina laughed lightly as the Hyuuga fainted in Naruto's arms. "She must really like you to react like that son. Most girls would deny it."

Sakura turned to Tsunade. "Hokage-sama, what's going on?"

"Listen everyone, because I don't want to repeat myself and we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Tsunade said, gaining everyone's attention. Hinata subconsciously snuggled closer into Naruto's chest, looking quite comfortable. "Naruto, you're in danger here in Konoha, and this time the ones behind it are not stopping until they get what they want. I'm going to get you out of Konoha until they lose some steam. This may take a while though, so you better go pack for a long trip."

Naruto shrugged. "No need. My house was burned down apparently while I was heading to yours. My clones found out while they were running around."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow. 'That could explain why the Anbu didn't immediately come to my aid, but that can't be the entire reason.' "So all you have left is on your person?"

Naruto shook his head. "I've been prepared for a long time for the day I ever had to leave Konoha like this. I've got supplies hidden around in case my home was ever destroyed like this. I'll be fine."

Tsunade smiled. "Nice thinking gaki."

Sakura was surprised. "For years you thought you might be forced out of Konoha Naruto?"

"Sakura, even you must know I'm not exactly the most liked person in town. I hoped they would learn to get over it and accept me, but I was prepared for the possibility they wouldn't and I would have to run or die. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst like Iruka-sensei said in class." The whiskered blonde told his teammate.

Kushina looked confused. "What do you mean Son?"

"More on that later Kushina. For now, let's get going. Kakashi, you know what to do. Sakura, you wish to come and learn under us?" Tsunade said.

The pinkette was surprised. "Me? But why? Am I in danger too?"

Kakashi nodded. "In a way you are Sakura. You are his teammate so the ones after him may target you as a means to get to him. If you go with them you cannot be targeted and you can learn under Tsunade-sama at the same time."

Sakura turned to the blonde hokage. "But who will watch over Konoha while you're gone?"

"I'll tell you after we're away from prying ears. Do you accept?" Tsunade told the young girl.

Sakura thought it over for a moment, looking at Naruto as she did. "Alright, I will, but on one condition. Hinata goes with Naruto." The adults and even Naruto gave her a questioning look. "You said I'd be in danger because I'm his teammate. Wouldn't his girlfriend be an even bigger target?"

"She's got a point Baa-chan." Naruto stated.

Kushina smiled. "I don't mind my son's girlfriend being with him. It could make things easier for him to understand."

"Understand what?" Tsunade and Naruto asked.

"Away from prying ears." Kushina said, using Tsunade's excuse.

Tsunade sighed. "Fine. We'll wait to hear from Kushina and we'll take Hinata along. Kakashi, go inform Hiashi about this. When I find a stable location, I'll send word to you so you will be able to correspond. Any questions?"

"What do we do if we need you immediately?" Kakashi asked.

"An immediate return would be impossible for me, so delay the issue as much as possible and improvise if you have to." The slug sannin told the jounin. Kakashi nodded and left.

"So where are we going?" Naruto asked.

"Go get your provisions, then we'll talk." Tsuande told him.

"I know a good place you can hide." Kushina offered.

"My idea first. You still have to explain yourself before we go anywhere you recommend Kushina." Tsunade claimed forcefully.

"Fair enough."

"Should I go home and get some stuff?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "Probably not a good idea, unless there's something there you have to have or can't do without." She then faced Naruto. "Naruto, how much did you stash away?"

"Enough to feed and help myself for six months. Maybe a month or two for all of us if we use it carefully."

"Good. Sakura, if you can, be discreet about it. Shizune, accompany her and bring her to the top of the monument when you're done. We'll be there waiting."

"Yes M'lady." Shizune told her mentor.

With that, Tsunade, Kushina, Naruto, and a still unconscious Hinata heading to Naruto's secret stash while Shizune, Sakura, and Tonton headed to the pinkette's home.


	6. Chapter 6

_Recommended Story: 'Naruto Unchained' by voider_

Chapter Six

It didn't take long for Shizune and Sakura to reach the genin kunoichi's home. The lights were off, telling them her parents were either out or sleeping.

"What are you going to tell the if you see them?" Shizune whispered.

Sakura shrugged. "Not sure. The truth I guess."

"Mind telling me why exactly you're going with us?" Shizune asked. "Not that I mind it, but I am curious."

"Let's get this over with first."

Shizune nodded. "I'll wait out here. You know what to do."

Sakura nodded and went inside. 'I wonder how long it's going to be before I come back. Will I even be able to come back?' She silently walked thru the front room of her small house. 'No, don't think like that. Of course I will be back someday. I'm not going to leave Konoha forever, just until this revolution thing ends and Naruto's out of harms way. I just hope Mom and Dad stay safe too.'

She carefully went up the stairs, using her chakra to stick to the walls rather than risk making too much noise. 'I guess I don't want Mom and Dad to ask me what's going on. I shouldn't just disappear, so maybe I should write a note for them. Yeah, that'll work.'

On the upper level Sakura quietly got to her room and went inside. Her mission-ready gear was within immediate access contained within a pink-and-white backpack. Grabbing it, she confirmed its contents. 'Kunais, check. Shuriken, check. Rations, check. First aid, check. Spare money, check. Change of clothes, check. Better bring along another set just to be sure. Bathroom products, check. Reading material, check. I guess all I need to do is grab some extra clothes and food and I'm good.'

Her door opened up, making her freeze, but she turned to see her father standing there in his dark blue pajamas. Akihiro Haruno was a tall lean man with pale hair, enough that you'd swear it was white, and the same green eyes Sakura had. He was no shinobi, instead he worked at the hospital as a technician. "Sakura, what are you doing?"

"Hi daddy." Sakura replied, sounding caught. "I'm just getting ready. Hokage-sama assigned my team a mission that we have to start under the cover of night so I need to get going."

Akihiro shook his head. "I saw the records. One of your teammates is still in care and the other just got out no less than four hours ago. Where are you really going?"

"It's the truth. Hokage-sama's assistant is right outside waiting. You can ask her yourself."

Akihiro still looked unconvinced. "Why not your sensei? Where's he?"

"I don't know. Probably getting ready too."

Akihiro looked right at his daughter, making her feel uncomfortable. "Sakura dear, I may not be shinobi, but I'm not gullible either. What are you really doing?"

Sakura frowned. "I'm telling you the truth Dad. Hokage-sama has an assignment for me and Naruto that we must start tonight. Why don't you believe me?"

"I heard a lot of commotion outside and your mother and I were worried since you weren't home yet. We've been waiting with the lights out to avoid drawing attention here all this time for you to get back, and now that you have you're heading out again to do an errand for the hokage? Surely she has more sense than to send two genin out while there's a conflict going on here in Konoha."

From behind him, Sakura's mother Mariko Haruno appeared, wearing a white bathrobe. She looked like an adult version of Sakura but with dull blue eyes and her pink hair worn in a braid. "Sakura? Where have you been?"

"Mom, Dad, I'm only saying this once. I have to go away for a while. I don't know when I'll get back, but I will when I'm able to." Sakura told them, trying to avoid telling them the real nature of what she was doing.

"This sounds too fishy to me. I want to hear from the hokage about this first." Akihiro stated.

"She's busy right now, but you can talk to her assistant right now."

"Not good enough. I want to hear from the hokage directly." Akihiro announced firmly, crossing his arms.

Sakura held in a sigh. "That's not up to you. Look Mom, Dad, I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry. I love you, but I have to go."

"But why?" Mariko asked.

Sakura now sighed. "All I'm allowed to tell you is it's for my own good and I need to do this to help my teammate."

Mariko held her daughter. "Stay safe dear and try to come back soon."

Sakura hugged her mother back. "I'll stay safe, but I can't promise to come back soon. I could be gone for a long time."

"What? No, you can't. This is your home you can't just leave it." Her mother said, pulling back to face her.

Sakura sended a single tear. "Mom, I'm going to miss you both, but I have to do this."

"Why?" Both her parents asked.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't tell you anything. For the time being you'll both be safer if you don't know. Just please believe me when I say I will be safe and I will come back someday."

Akihiro's gaze softened. "This isn't a normal mission, is it?" Sakura nodded her head. "And you can't turn it down?" Sakura shook her head this time. "And you want to go on this even if you could reject it?" Sakura was slower to react this time, but she nodded.

Mariko tightened her hold on her daughter, as if afraid or unwilling to let her go. "Please sweetheart, don't do this."

Sakura pushed her mother away a bit. "Mom, I told you, I have to do this. I don't have the time to tell you everything, just trust me when I say I need to do this. Maybe later I can send word to you on how I am and a better explanation, but tonight, let's just leave it at this."

Mariko pulled away and pulled a dark red ribbon out of her hair that she put in at night to keep it from going all over the place and irritating her husband. "Sakura, keep this with you. As a reminder of us and your promise to come back as soon as possible."

Tentatively, the young genin accepted the offered ribbon and put it in her pack. "Bye Mom. Bye Dad. I love you both." She hugged them one more time and went downstairs.

Mariko embraced her husband for support. "Do you think we're doing the right thing by not putting our foot down?"

Akihiro shrugged. "Maybe we should have. But sadly we're not the only authority figures in our daughter's life anymore and we have to trust her to know what orders to follow and what ones not to." He put his arms around his distraught wife. "C'mon, let's get back to bed. All we can do is hope for the best."

* * *

><p>"Mom? Baa-chan?" Naruto called out.<p>

"What is it Son?" Kushina asked, bringing them to a stop.

"Before we go, there are two people I have to see. I owe it to them to let them know I'm not going to be around anymore." The whiskered blonde told the group.

"We don't have too much time, but if it's really important Naruto then make it quick." Tsuande told him. "I'll be at the top of the monument. Kushina, you come with me. Hinata, you go with Naruto to keep an eye out for him."

The genin nodded and although Kushina looked reluctant to obey she did not argue. Then the two teens broke away and headed back into the village.

"Where are we going Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"I need to see Moegi and the Ichirakus. I can't just leave without saying goodbye, not to them. Moegi is closest so I'll get to her first."

"Why her?" Hinata asked, not objecting, just wondering.

Naruto struggled to answer. "Her mother died tonight and her dying wish to for me to keep an eye on her. If I can't be here to do that I need to tell her why. Would you like to let your family know about you while we're at it?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, I don't. If I did they'd try to stop me and they'd likely succeed. It's best if we just ignore them."

Before more could be said, the pair arrived at Konohamaru's house. Naruto knocked at the door and Konohamaru's mother answered the door. "Welcome back Naruto. Is something wrong?"

"Boss!" Moegi screamed, running right to the orange-clad ninja.

"You ok Moegi?" Naruto asked.

The orange-haired girl nodded. "I'm just afraid of being away from you right now. You're strong enough to keep the enemies away."

Naruto was afraid to burst her bubble right then, but had no choice. "Umm... Moegi, I'm going to have to go away to make sure they stay away. So I won't be around here to keep you safe for a long time."

Moegi was wide-eyed. "What? No. Don't go Boss. I need you."

Konohamaru was equally surprised. "You can't go Boss. Konoha needs you here to become Hokage."

"I know Konohamaru, but Konoha unfortunately doesn't want me here for the time being, and they're going to try to kick me out or maybe even kill me. I have to leave until they change their mind." Naruto explained.

"Can I go?" Moegi asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm afraid not Moegi."

"Why not? I'm all alone here. Where will I go?"

Naruto looked at the Sarutobi's. "Could you watch over her?"

Konohamaru's mother shook her head. "Maybe for a night or two, but nothing long term. It's not that we don't want to, but we don't have the room or money too."

Hinata looked at the young girl. "Do you have any other family?"

Moegi shook her head. "I was adopted. Unless Boss takes me with him, I'm going to have to go back to the orphanage."

Naruto cringed. That was a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone. "I don't know what to do, but... maybe Baa-chan would. You want to go ask her?" Moegi nodded and Naruto faced Konohamaru's mother. "Thanks for watching her. If I don't bring her back tonight, just know she'll be in good hands."

"Hey, can't I go where you're going Boss?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Sorry Squirt. Your mother needs you and I need someone I can trust to keep an eye on Konoha while I"m away. Plus someone has to tell Udon everything right?"

The young boy sighed then stood diligently. "I'll do what I can to make this town see it needs you Boss."

"Thanks Konohamaru. I'm counting on you."

After saying goodbye to Konohamaru's family, Naruto created a clone and had it take Moegi home to gather a few things she wanted to keep on her before heading to Tsunade. During that time he and Hinata headed to Ichiraku's ramen.

Naruto was quite surprised to see the lights on. "Maybe they're pulling a late shift tonight." He thought aloud before entering. "Old man? Ayame-nee-chan?

"Naruto?" Teuchi and Ayame called out before coming out of the kitchen. "You alright?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Despite this weird thing." He then held out his tail.

The ramen chefs gasped. "What is that?"

"Some strange tail that appeared tonight while I was fighting. Even weirder, my mom showed up today and she even has one too." Naruto answered.

Hinata looked at him. "She has one too? I didn't see one."

"She can apparently hide it. I don't know what's going on here."

"How do we know you're really Naruto then?" Teuchi cautiously asked.

"Who else would ask to eat their own weight in ramen and ask if you had a scale to determine how much ramen that really would be?"

Ayame smiled. "Good enough for me. We thought you might show up with all those clones we saw in the streets. What's going on?"

"To put it short, I'm going to have to flee town for a while." Naruto told them.

Teuchi made an understanding 'ah' sound. "So it's finally come, eh?"

Naruto nodded. "Looks like it. I wanted to say goodbye since you guys have been like family to me."

"Speaking of family, could I go see your mom? There's something I'd like to ask her while she's here." Ayame asked, a stern look in her eyes.

"Uhh... I guess, though we have to move fast."

Ayame smiled. "No problem. Just let me get ready. I'll be a moment." She then turned and went in back.

Teuchi looked at the young boy he considered the son he never had. "Where will you go Naruto? That Wave country you told me about?"

"Likely. It's nearby and somewhere I know I'd be welcome in."

Hinata tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Naruto-kun, maybe you should think of somewhere else. If any hunter nin are sent after us, that might be the first place they'd search."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Actually that makes sense." Teuchi added.

Ayame appeared. "I'm all set." Naruto was surprised to see her. She wasn't dressed in her ramen server outfit, probably the only thing Naruto had ever seen her wear. This time Ayame dressed an awful lot like Anko, wearing a black open jacket with a dark purple mesh shirt underneath that almost made her bust look half a cup size bigger than her normal outfit led others to believe. She wore skin-tight black leggings under a black skirt with a blue belt and a ninja tool pouch strapped to her right thigh. On her back was a purple backpack. "There. I'm ready."

"For what?" Naruto asked, not expecting this.

"If I'm going to see your mother Naruto, I want to make a good impression on her. As well as show her I'm no pushover." Ayame calmly explained.

"Are you expecting to fight her?" Hinata asked, quite surprised.

"No, but if she says something that will make me want to kick her ass then I'm sure as hell not going to do it dressed as a chef." The brunette told the younger girl.

"We should get going now though. Old man, thank you for everything, and be ready to really get to work when I come back." Naruto told Teuchi.

The old man nodded. "Will do." He then shared a knowing look with his daughter who nodded, as if they silently came to a conclusion the two genin didn't understand.

Rather than worry about it, they both left the ramen stand with Ayame following them, moving with the grace and speed of an experienced kunoichi.

"Naruto-kun, you never said she was a shinobi." Hinata mentioned.

"It never came up. Besides, she resigned years ago. I'm not sure why, she just said she was mad at someone and refused to do more work so she quit and started working with her dad. I asked why but she always told me not to worry about it." Naruto told her.

"How good is she?" Hinata asked.

Naruto thought it over. "Let me put it this way: When she tells me I've had enough ramen to eat, I don't argue anymore."

While still a vague answer, Hinata knew it had big implications. 'She can actually make him STOP eating ramen? Holy crap!'

* * *

><p>Tsunade and Kushina were on top of the monument discussing something when Sakura, Shizune, Naruto, and Hinata showed up. Both older women were surprised to see two extras accompanying them. "Naruto, who are they?" Tsunade asked.<p>

Ayame walked p to Kushina. "I'm assuming you're Naruto's mother?"

Kushina nodded. "Yes I am. Are you one of my son's-?" She was cut off by a solid punch to her jaw that knocked her on her ass.

"Bitch where the fuck have you been all this time?" Ayame yelled at the redhead, surprising those around her.

"Ayame-nee-chan!" Naruto called out in shock, but the brunette paid it no mind.

Kushina got back on her feet and glared back at the ramen chef. "That was unwise brat."

Ayame refused to back down. "You've been gone for twelve years leaving this poor boy all alone in the world and NOW you decide to come back and be a part of his life? Not while I'm around. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass for leaving Naruto alone like that."

Kushina smiled. "You care about him, don't you?"

"He's practically family to me and probably the only decent boy I know of any age. Now answer my question dammit!"

Kushina looked at Naruto and smiled. "I like this one Naruto. Fierce and not afraid to defend her turf. Don't lose this one."

Everyone was confused. "What?"

"Never mind this. Naruto, why did you bring others here?" Tsunade asked.

"Ayame-nee-chan wanted to see my mom, and Moegi here has nowhere to go. You saw what happened earlier so I can't just ignore her. What should she do?"

Tsunade knelt down to look at the young girl who was clinging to Naruto. "Do you have any family to stay with?"

Moegi shook her head. "I was adopted and Mom never mentioned any other family. Please don't send me back to the orphanage. I don't want to be orphaned twice."

"Why not bring her along?" Kushina suggested, catching everyone's attention. "I don't see why not."

Tsunade shook her head. "Not the best idea. It could slow us down and make us more vulnerable to anyone who wanted to do harm to us."

"Got a better idea? Because so far I only see three options. With us, in the orphanage, or find a new guardian right now." Kushina asked.

Finding a new legal guardian right then was definitely impossible for Tsunade. The Anbu were disorganized and it was impossible to tell for sure where everyone's loyalties lay. Not to mention it would look suspicious if Tsunade was in a hurry to give one girl a home within an hour.

Tsunade sighed and got back up on her feet. "I still don't think bringing her with us is a good idea, however leaving her doesn't sound any better. Just do what we say little lady, understand?"

Moegi smiled and nodded. "Yes Ma'am."

"So where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"Hinata-chan says we shouldn't go anyplace we've already been, like Wave or Tea or Snow." Naruto stated.

Shizune nodded. "Yes, and even though we could probably catch up to the three from Suna who are going home, it would be unwise to get them involved in this mess."

Tsunade snapped her fingers. "I know the perfect place to head to for now anyways."

"Where?" Everyone asked.

"Sea Country."


	7. Chapter 7

_Recommended Story: 'Hanyou Naruto and his vixens' by Robin(dot)exe, another story based on a challenge from Crossoverpairinglover._

_Once again, I want to remind everyone this is not a real crossover. This chapter does contain some elements inspired by other sources, but this is not meant to be a crossover._

Chapter Seven

Over the course of the next day everyone in the group had made a lot of progress in getting away from Konoha, though not as much progress as Tsunade would have preferred. Two things had slowed them down a bit. The first being Moegi, who needed to be carried the whole time which slowed down her ride and thus the group. The second, being the more inconvenient, was someone Kushina had taken an interest in.

"Please tell me why exactly are we dragging her along? And don't give me that 'I'll explain later' crap." Tsunade insisted when they took a break in the evening.

"I was looking for my son and found her in the area. I had no way of knowing if she was an ally or an enemy but the only way to know was to take her with me and find out." Kushina answered.

The person in question was an unconscious woman with red hair wearing a tattered white and purple kimono held together by a thick purple robe acting as a belt. This whole time she had been covered up in medic wrap and carried by Kushina so no one had recognized her until now. Right now she was laying on her back, looking peacefully asleep.

"That woman's the enemy Mom. She works for Orochimaru." Naruto said. "Why did you bring her here?"

"Like I just said Son, I had no way of knowing if she was with Konoha or not. I didn't want to abandon her if she was one of your allies, and I figured if she was an enemy we could get information out of her." Kushina answered.

"Not a bad idea, but she must be close to death if she hasn't woken up yet." Shizune said.

"She was in a lot of pain, so I put her in a forced sleep. Considering half her body was crushed by a tree I'm not surprised." Kushina replied. "I'm not exactly a healer, so I thought maybe you Tsunade could take a look at her."

Tsunade frowned. "If she works for Orochimaru, the only healing I'm doing to to make her coherent enough to answer questions. After that, she can be in agonizing pain till she dies for all I care." Everyone looked at her weirdly for saying it, yet none of them could truly fault her for wanting such a thing.

"I take it you and your old teammate still aren't the best of terms?" Kushina asked.

"If anything things have only gotten worse in your absence. Speaking of which, you've yet to explain anything about that Kushina." The slug sannin stated.

Kushina looked down at Tayuya. "Why don't we wake her up and find out what we need to first?"

Tsunade got in front of the redhead. "No Kushina, enough stalling. I don't know why you're so hesitant to tell us your story, but we're not doing you any favors until you explain yourself."

Kushina sighed. "Fine, but you better sit down. It's a long story and I doubt you're going to believe me anyway."

Everyone sat down and looked at her expectantly, with a little bit of curiosity too in the younger members of the group. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, because for you all to truly understand where I was and why, I'd have to tell you something that would completely change your perspective of the world you live in. But that can probably wait, so I'll start with something simpler. Like maybe why Naruto has a tail."

"That would help to know." Ayame said.

"The answer is because Naruto, like me, isn't exactly human. We're a different race."

Naruto immediately paled. "I'm a demon? No, I can't be. I can't be! It's not true! You're lying!"

Hinata immediately hugged him, allowing him to quiet down. "It's okay Naruto-kun, we know you're not a demon."

"She's right Son, you're not. You have no connection to Makai. You're an incubus." Kushina stated.

"Incubus?" Shizune asked. "But... even if those creatures did exist, they're still considered demons."

"Only by human standards. People have gotten rather lazy when classifying the non-human sentients. The denizens of Makai, the Ayakashi, are better suited for being considered demons, though that's still not a completely accurate word. Incubi and succubi don't come from Makai, they come from Alfheim."

"Alfheim?" Everyone asked.

"One of the five realms. Maybe I should explain that part first after all." Kushina answered. When no one objected, she continued. "This world, the world of humans, is actually just one of five worlds. You call it Earth, but it does go by other names too, such as Middle Earth, Human Realm, World of Chakra, and Midgard."

"Midgard? Isn't that what you said to me when I saw you in that vision?" Naruto asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes. You see, Midgard is considered the 'official' name of this realm to those that live outside it. Here, let me draw you a diagram." Using her finger Kushina drew a picture in the dirt. she drew five squares stacked on top of each other like a stone pillar, with a tree on top that had roots extending to all the squares. after that, she drew an X in the center square. "This is Midgard if one maps the realms in conjunction with the other realms." Kushina pointed out. "Starting from the top, the worlds go Asgard, Alfheim, Midgard, Makai, and Nilfheim, which are all connected by the Yggdrasil tree, which is sort of a realm in it of itself, but different from the others."

"The three central worlds are the mortal realms, the three Earths, where lifeforms like us live and die. The top and bottom realms are the two afterlife realms, where the dead go when they die. It _is_ possible for the living to go there for a time, but it's not easy or recommended, especially if the deities there get offended by what happens."

"You mean those two places are Heaven and Hell?" Shizune asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes, though it's not quite as simple as what you're picturing. Most Midgardians know little of the other worlds aside from what they hear in legend, which always distort some of the facts. Few Midgardians have ever even been to the other realms. To be honest, I only know of one person who's ever been to all of them."

"Who?" Naruto curiously asked.

"You know him best as the Sage of Six Paths."

"Who?" Naruto asked, looking confused.

Kushina saw he wasn't the only one. In fact, Tsunade looked like she was the only one who knew the title. "Tsunade, you mind explaining that one?"

"The Sage was the man who discovered how to use chakra and thus invited ninjutsu and pretty much the ninja way as it is today. He was said to be a very powerful man and is considered to be the father of the men who would later create the Senju and Uchiha clans. Very little about him as a person is known, but he was said to be a traveler and a peace-loving man." Tsunade told everyone else.

"Why was he called a sage of six paths? What were those paths supposed to be?" Sakura asked.

"The paths in question were based on the six Buddhist paths of reincarnation. These are the paths a reborn soul can taken after they die, based on the accumulated karma of their past life. They are called Deva, Preta, Human, Animal, Naraka, and Asura. Preta and Naraka are considered the hellish paths while Deva and Asura and considered the more heavenly. Human and Animal are the more neutral ones."

"Sounds like this guy wasn't called a Sage for no reason." Naruto said.

Kushina nodded. "True, however that's not the complete reason." Everyone turned back to her. "The story says the Sage traveled extensively. Did it ever say exactly where he went?"

Tsunade thought it over, but drew a blank. "You mean to say he actually went to other realms?" Kushina nodded. "How?"

"Probably the same way I did; by use of Yggdrasil. It's a handy way to get from one world to another despite how hard it is to use. Anyway, what you don't know is that the six paths the Sage referred to were not only Buddhist paths, but the realms too. The Deva Path was Asgard, the Asura Path was Alfheim, the Human Path was Midgard, the Animal Path was Makai, the Naraka Path was Niflheim, and the Preta Path was Yggdrasil."

The others looked surprised but said nothing, allowing Kushina to continue informing them. "The Sage is but one of the few travelers to see all the realms and it is thanks to those like him denizens of the other worlds have knowledge of this as well. Of course, most of them like people here just think this is all made up, but it's not. I myself have only been to two, and that's still more than most people can go without dying first."

"What are these worlds like?" Moegi asked.

Kushina smiled. "I'll start from the top." She pointed to the top square in her dirt diagram. "This is Asgard, AKA Heaven, Olympus, Paradise, Deva Realm, and World of Will. This is where the kami live and all the souls they bless live with them there. From what I understand, there are four areas in Asgard. There's Vanir, where the earth gods live. Aesir, where the sky gods live. Valhalla, where blessed mortal warriors live after death. And Elysium, where blessed mortal civilians live after death. Valhalla and Elysium are what we consider Heaven. Generally speaking, a living mortal like us can only get to Asgard by either invitation or being related to a god, so I'm not exactly sure how the Sage got there."

She now pointed to the second square. "This is Alfheim, AKA Higher Earth, Asura Realm, Fantasia, and World of Mana. While this world is dominated by the humans, Alfheim is dominated by elves. There are multiple sentient creatures there too, collectively regarded as Asurians. You might still call them demons, but these are more of the 'good natured' demons you hear about. If you ever want me to take you there, you'll find it quite similar to this world. The division of the regions are even similar to this world."

"This next one if Midgard, the world you're already familiar with, so I'll skip that and move on to the next one." Kushina then pointed to the fourth square in her diagram. "This is Makai, AKA Lower Earth, Jotenheim, Muspellheim, Animal Realm, and World of Youki. This is the world where the Ayakashi, the 'bad natured' demons would live, though they aren't by nature evil. They just live more primitively than we do and tend to get in fights whenever they encounter someone from another world. Some of them are sentient and have their own cultures, but they're more along the lines of barbarians than what you'd consider truly civilized. All in all, it's mostly an untamed and mostly unmapped world. The dominant race, if I recall correctly, are giants and onis."

"Now the final world here," Kushina said pointing to the bottom square, "is Nilfheim, AKA the Underworld, Hades, Naraka Realm, and World of Reishi. This is where all dead souls originally go if not blessed by an Asgardian first. Most are brought there by Shinigami and then judged to determine where exactly they go. This realm from what I hear is divided into three areas. The first is Seireitei, where ordinary souls go if they can accept death and wait for the chance to be reincarnated. That's also where the Shinigami live. The second is Hueco Mundo, where nasty spirits go when they die and spend their time doing who knows what. The third is Hell, where Shinigami place the worst souls to be punished and tormented."

"The final Path so to speak is Yggdrasil, the Preta Realm, which is and isn't a realm at the same time. It's sort of the glue that holds all the other worlds together. One can enter it, but they cannot stay there for long. Doing so is deadly, for there are ghost-like natives who are quite territorial and vicious, which makes traversing Yggdrasil risky. Every time you enter Yggdrasil, there's a chance you will not exit alive."

"So this... Elfhem is where you've been?" Ayame asked.

"Alfheim, and yes. But please believe me, it wasn't something I wanted." Kushina answered, sounding saddened. "The day Naruto was born, the same day that Kyuubi attacked Konoha, a few Asurians found me and dragged me to Alfheim against my will. I was already weakened from giving birth and fighting against the Kyuubi, so I couldn't put up much of a fight."

"Why would they take you away?" Naruto asked.

"...Because I was born in Alfheim, but raised in Midgard." Kushina admitted, as if fearful of the response.

"Born in Alfheim? What exactly are you?" Hinata asked.

Kushina closed her eyes. From behind her, a tail grew along with a set of bat-like wings. She then opened her eyes. "I am called a succubus."

"Succubus? "Tsunade asked. "The demon that seduces men to have sex with them then kills them?"

"Not exactly. There probably have been unscrupulous ones that have acted like praying mantis's like that, but for the most part we aren't sexual predators." Kushina countered calmly. "The thing about my kind is our power gets out of control often, and only orgasms stabilize it."

"What are orgasms?" Moegi innocently asked.

"Is that part of a girl's time of month?" Naruto asked just as innocently.

Wide-eyed, Kushina shook her head. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain an orgasm to someone, let alone my own son, so I'll let Tsunade handle that." She then smiled deviously at Hinata. "Unless his girlfriend would like to do that?"

Hinata's blush invented a new shade of red before she fainted.

"And since you're a succubus, that makes Naruto an incubus?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, sort of. Naruto could have just as easily been a human like his father. It's mere chance that he took more after me in that extent."

"Who _was_ my father Mom?" Naruto asked.

Kushina was confused. "You weren't told?" Naruto shook his head. "Your father was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto stared blankly, then lightly laughed. "No seriously, who was he?"

Kushina lightly jerked back. "Son, that wasn't a joke. He _is_ your father."

"Nice try Mom, but that's impossible. There's no way I could be related to someone as important as the Fourth. If I was I wouldn't have been ignored and insulted my entire life."

Kushina looked surprised to hear this, then turned to Tsunade. "What does he mean by that?"

Tsunade hesitantly sighed and turned to face Naruto. "Naruto, she's not lying. Your father really _was_ the Yondaime."

Naruto looked like a deer in the headlights. "No... that's impossible. It can't be true."

"Why not Son?" Kushina asked, but he didn't answer.

Tsunade turned to the redhead. "Kushina, your son... has been the target of massive negative propaganda. Konoha's population overall can be divided into three parts: those like us who value Naruto, those that can tolerate Naruto, and those that would only give him a grave just so they could dance on it."

"What?" Kushina asked in disbelief. "Why would that happen? We said we wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero."

"Apparently Konoha missed the memo." Ayame stated.

Kushina got comfortable. "Tell me everything."

* * *

><p>"You requested us Hiashi-sama?" Shino asked.<p>

"Yes, thank you both for showing up." The Hyuuga head said to his three guests.

"May I ask why you wished to see us?" Ino asked.

"The reason I requested you is I wish you three to perform me a service." Hiashi told them, confusing them both. "The thing is, the Hokage is temporarily out of town handling some business, and I have reason to believe my daughter is with her. This wouldn't be a problem, but I never heard she was invited to accompany the Hokage, nor was any message saying otherwise given to me or any Hyuuga. What I want you two to do is track her down and find out where she is."

"You fear she's in danger?" Shino asked.

"This wouldn't be the first time." Hiashi responded, remembering the Kumo incident.

"But why us? Why not one of your own?" Tenten asked.

"Because I'm currently evaluating my own clansmen to find... something of interest. I chose you two because you Shino can track her down and avoid scaring her once you find her. You Yamanaka-san can ensure she's not under someone's influence while you're at it. And you Tenten-san can fight if the situation requires it." Hiashi told them. "Can you do this for me?"

"We can, but the question is if we should." Shino stated. "This basically qualifies as a mission, and accepting one not issued by the Hokage is tantamount to insubordination. We could get in legal trouble for this."

"Besides, I'm pretty sure I know where Hinata is anyway." Ino added, gaining everyone's attention. "Last time I saw her she was with Naruto and Hokage-sama. So I'd say it's quite likely she's still with them wherever they are so you shouldn't worry."

"True, but under normal circumstances one of them would let me know. Doesn't someone inform your father when you go out of town?" Hiashi asked.

Ino thought it over. "You're right."

"Yet no one informed me about this, giving me reason to believe there's more to this. Maybe Im wrong and there's nothing to worry about, but I'd like you to go confirm what's going on. If anyone tries to punish you for this, I'll take responsibility." Hiashi said.

The three genin looked at each other, trying to decide what to do. "I don't see why not." Tenten said.

Ino shrugged. "I've got to admit I'm curious."

"I'm concerned for my teammate's well-being. So I guess we'll get headed out right away." Shino added.

"Thank you. You will be rewarded when you get back." Hiashi told them with a smile before they left. 'My daughter, wherever you are please be safe.'


	8. Chapter 8

_Recommended Story: 'Kazekage's Right Hand' by Maevis Pas_

_Please check my post 'Hidden Bloodline Challenge' to hear something regarding a new poll I have in mind._

Chapter Eight

The sun was set and it was close to time to go to sleep, but no one felt like sleeping. Heck, Naruto didn't even feel like talking. Or being around the others. Right now he had walked away from the group and was sitting on a long hunched over, doing a pretty good brooding Sasuke impression right there sans the hate.

Despite his obvious wish to be alone, Hinata, Sakura, and Ayame were there with him hoping to soothe his bad mood in any way they could. The others were wisely keeping their distance from him, while Moegi just wasn't sure what to say or do here.

Sakura and Ayame were just hovering around Naruto, waiting for any sign he wanted to acknowledge them, while Hinata was sitting right next to him leaning on him. He did not object to her contact. "Let it out Naruto-kun, don't keep this to yourself. Let me help you."

The blonde sighed. "I just can't believe this. Why didn't the old man tell me? Why didn't he tell anyone else? Maybe then I wouldn't have been so hated." He paused for a moment, struggling to not cry."How many people knew, and still said nothing? Did nothing? Jiji? Baa-chan? Ero-sennin? Kakashi-sensei? Did they know? Why wasn't I told?" He shedded a few tears.

Ayame looked mad. "I find it very unlikely that the Sandaime didn't know. Now I respect the old man even less. Makes me wish I had done more."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

Ayame leaned against a tree, her arms crossed. "I used to be a chuunin, and a damn good one. I was also one of Naruto's guards when he was younger and targeted a lot more often. My teammates and I were diligent, and unlike the other guards who often just warned the idiots, we weren't afraid to use force in response to his harassers. Apparently some dumb-asses decided to press charges on us for inconveniencing and endangering them, and we counter-charged them for interfering in shinobi business and conspiring to murder a child."

Ayame closed her eyes and clenched a fist, the others easily feeling latent rage coming from her. "The matter was brought before the council, both sides, and naturally it became a tug of war between the two sides like it always does when Naruto's involved. This particular one got worse than usual, and I remember at least one civilian making threats at the shinobi side for not being obedient. I think he went so far as to claim that the shinobi were supposed to take orders from the civilians, though he probably said it a lot more derogatorily than that, and at least one more civilian supported the claim."

Her audience were wide-eyed to hear this, and Ayame opened her eyes. "It's been years since then, so I don't remember everything that happened in that hearing. But I never forgot what the results were. The Sandaime... settled with the civilians. Settled! The so-called strongest ninja in the village refused to put his foot down and instead compromised with people whose only weapon is pissing and moaning. After that, I was so disgusted I refused to take orders from him again and resigned. Though I refused to stop watching over Naruto even if I wasn't an active kunoichi anymore."

"What was the settlement?" Moegi asked, fearful of what the ramen chef would say.

Ayame looked like she was struggling to make herself answer that, or maybe she didn't know the best way to phrase the answer. "The civilians threatened a citywide boycott of every sale to every shinobi unless the Sandaime executed Naruto that night once and for all. The shinobi declared that was tantamount to treason and sabotage, and the civilians, to put it politely, told them to tell someone who cared. They even told everyone that they had a contingency plan set in place so that if they were arrested, executed, or removed from power the boycott would automatically happen until Naruto's head was on a pike for all to see."

Sakura looked like she wanted to throw up, but Hinata got up and ran for the bushes to actually do the deed. Naruto and Moegi both paled enough to look like they were Orochimaru's kids. "Seriously? What stopped them?" Sakura asked, almost frightened to hear the answer.

Ayame could not give anyone eye contact. "The Sandaime would not give them what they wanted, but he wouldn't risk calling their bluff. In the end, he..." Now she looked like she wanted to vomit. "He agreed to _pardon_ all those that tried to kill Naruto and altered the law regarding him to be punishable by prison time rather than death."

Naruto immediately bolted to his feet. "HE WHAT?" The blonde didn't know whether to feel horrified or betrayed. "But... but he told me-"

"He told you what he thought was best for you to hear Naruto." Ayame sadly interrupted, her expression very empathetic to him. "He didn't tell you who your parents were, and he didn't tell you about you-know-what. Is it really that hard to believe he wouldn't tell you the real law about what happens to those that victimize you?"

"What law? There's a law that applies specifically to Boss?" Moegi asked as Hinata came back, holding her stomach and wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

Naruto and Ayame shared a look. "Nee-chan, could you... tell them the story? I... I just can't right now." Naruto asked as he slumped on the ground as if completely defeated. Hinata, Sakura, and Moegi all tried to hug him to make him feel better, but he practically looked suicidal.

"You sure about that Naruto?" Ayame asked.

The whiskered blonde nodded. "I just want to get it over with. Please Nee-chan, you're one of the only people I can trust anymore."

Each girl there felt their heart ache for the poor boy, and they all shed a tear for him. "Okay Naruto. Girls, there _is_ a law that centers around Naruto. You see, there is a reason people treat him the way they do. Is it a good reason? Not by a long shot, but that doesn't stop people. And while I'd rather not have to reveal this under the circumstances, but if you're going to be on the lam with Naruto, you probably should know why Konoha wants him dead in the first place."

The girls listened with much interest, but none relinquished their hold on him. "You should know about the story of the Yondaime and the Kyuubi. Did the Academy ever tell you exactly _how_ the Yondaime got rid of the fox?"

Sakura and Hinata shared a look before looking back at Ayame. "The sensei's said a very advanced jutsu was used that ended up killing the Yondaime was used. They couldn't say exactly which jutsu it was because no one was familiar with it." Sakura answered.

"If no one was familiar with it, then how did they know it worked?" Ayame asked.

Sakura was momentarily speechless. "Good point, but regarding Naruto?"

"The Yondaime got rid of the Kyuubi, but it didn't simply cease to exist. He put it somewhere to ensure the creature would never succeed in destroying Konoha. Unfortunately, the only place he _could_ put it... was in a seal he placed on Naruto."

'It was fun while it lasted.' Naruto told himself, so completely certain the three girls would try to kill him now he'd bet every ryo he ever spent on ramen on it. He closed his eyes and braced for Sakura's shouts and fists, Hinata's cursing and juuken, and whatever Moegi come think up.

Nothing could have surprised him more than hearing them cry. In confusion, he looked at them, seeing their expressions filled with concern, sorrow, and confusion, but not ounce of hatred or fear. "Wh... why aren't you girls shouting and calling me a monster and trying to kill me?"

Hinata kissed his cheek. "Why would I do such a thing to my Naruto-kun? If a-anything, I should do that to myself for not telling you about me sooner."

"Boss, you saved my life once and cried over my mom's murder. No monster would do that." Moegi told him.

Sakura nodded. "Naruto, if you were Kyuubi, there's no way you'd let me hit you all those times. If you were I'd probably be dead by now. That alone proves to me you're not the fox."

Naruto was wide-eyed and frozen, his mind having a hard time processing this. Then suddenly he moved, and quickly broke free of their holds and backed against a tree, looking at them like he was frightened.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Naruto?"

"Boss?"

The three girls tried to approach, but he held up his arms defensively and shielded his face, making them stop. Ayame approached and gently pulled Naruto into a comforting hug, which he didn't reject but didn't relax from either. "Girls, it's alright. This isn't personal. You just need to know that Naruto is just so used to rejection that he has a hard time handling a situation where he's accepted. You scared him because that's not what he was prepared for."

"Is Naruto so traumatized that he expects even his friends to want him dead?" Sakura asked, feeling her heart ache more for the whiskered blonde. 'I can't imagine how much this hurts Hinata.'

Ayame nodded. "When Naruto tries to be nice to people, they either ignore him or try to kill him. When he tried to be nice to his classmates, they either gave him the silent treatment or insults. Even when he was put on a team they were quick to single him out, and when he went to see the Godaime she demeaned him and his dream too. Naruto has basically become conditioned to believe that _everyone's_ first response to him is hatred or indifference, so when you three weren't that when he expected it the most, he didn't know what to think and got scared."

"How do you know all this?" Sakura asked. A quick glance showed Hinata crying a river and Moegi wiping her eyes. Sakura felt her own cheeks and found her own tears were starting to get heavier too.

"I'm someone Naruto knows he can trust. He tells me quite a lot about what he goes thru. He's learned to feel safe and comfortable around me, and you three are going to have to do the same with him."

"Hold on, what do you mean 'you three'?" Sakura asked. "Don't you trust us anymore Naruto?"

"I don't know what to think anymore." He quietly said, looking at no one.

Hinata came up to him and sat down in front of him, holding his face so he couldn't look away. "Naruto-kun, I want you to do something right now. I want you to remember your promise to me to beat Neji-oniisan. I want you to remember when you saw me in the hospital while I recovered. I want you to remember our talk before you went to the chuunin exam finals. I want you to remember the day you decided to give me chance." She paused for a moment and drew him into a kiss much like when she found him at the Valley of the End. "Now, do you feel like I'm wrong for not hating you?"

"Hinata-chan..." Naruto softly said, then got out of Ayame's embrace and hugged the Hyuuga heiress tightly, as if afraid she'd disappear if he let go.

Ayame smiled at the scene, then quietly got up and came to the other two girls. "Here's my advice you two: Give Naruto time to come to terms with your friendship with him, and do what you can to let him know you don't hate him. It likely won't take that long, but don't expect it to be quick. I don't know exactly how those two got together, but I'd bet my life savings it didn't happen by simply asking 'Will you go out with me?' Understand?"

Sakura and Moegi nodded. Sakura looked at the young couple and saw Naruto looked more relaxed, making her smile softly for him. "Hey Hinata, Naruto, while we have time, could you tell us what exactly brought you two together?"

Ayame smirked. 'Smart move girl. Give Naruto something positive to think about and he'll get out of his funk quicker.'

Naruto didn't look that talkative, but he did look at his pink-haired teammate. "Well... in a way I guess it started when I visited Hinata-chan in the hospital during the month before the finals. I didn't train 24/7 so sometimes when I had free time, I went to see her, and get more inspiration for kicking Neji's ass. We chatted and got to know each other a little more, but we... didn't start acting like this until after..." Now he cut himself off.

"After what?" Sakura curiously asked.

Naruto sighed and broke eye contact with the pinkette. "After I brought Baachan back to heal Sasuke."

'He sounded so hurt remembering that. Why?' Sakura asked herself. "Go on."

Hinata spoke next. "That day, I found Naruto-kun at that bridge your team always met at, just staring into the water, looking so forlorn."

-Flashback-

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said as she cautiously approached the young man.

He turned to her and smiled. "Hi Hinata-chan."

Hinata could immediately tell his heart wasn't in his greeting. "What's wrong? You brought the next hokage here and thanks to her those injured from the invasion are getting better treatment. Konoha can get stronger and it's all thanks to you. Why are you so unhappy?"

Naruto sighed and looked away. "Hinata-chan, you're the only person who's actually thanked me for doing this."

"What?"

He nodded. "It's true. No one's even said so much as thank you to me for what I did. The old lady didn't even want to look at Konoha and even though she told me I helped her change her mind when I saved her from Orochimaru, she never actually thanked me for doing it. Sure, she gave me this necklace, but she never actually said the words. Ero-sannin and Shizune didn't either. Heck, I thought at least Sakura would thank me for bringing the only person who could heal Sasuke to him, and... she didn't even_ look_ at me."

Hinata gasped but let Naruto continue. "What will it take? What do I have to do before someone finally acknowledges it? I protect my team on missions, but I only get insulted. I make us pass the first test of the chuunin exams, and I'm called an idiot. I save her life from the sand-user and the only person she or anyone else give credit or thanks to is the teme. And now, I brought the world's best medic to Konoha to heal everyone, and no one even says 'Good job Naruto'."

Hinata put her arm around him. "I thank you Naruto-kun. I know it's not much, but I am grateful for what you do for us all." Naruto tensed, but he didn't ask her to let go so she didn't. "I'm sorry Sakura isn't."

Naruto sighed. "I don't think I can take it anymore Hinata-chan. I think this may have been the last straw for me. If me saving her life and Sasuke's too won't get her to at least give me a little respect, what will? I have no idea, and I think I'm tired of trying. Do you think I should?"

That was a tough question for Hinata to answer. "Na-Naruto-kun, I... I can't tell you what path to take in life. Only you can do that. I just want you to be happy. If you feel you n-need Sakura to be happy, then... I w-will su-support your choice. But if you're having doubts about that, then m-m-maybe... you sh-should consider alternatives instead."

"Like maybe trying to have someone else be my girlfriend?" Naruto asked, and Hinata nodded. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should." He then looked at the Hyuuga heiress. "Hinata-chan, would you like to go get ramen with me?"

She blushed, and placed her hand over his. "Na-Naruto-kun, a-as m-much as I want to say yes, I h-have to s-say no right now. Listen first. I _do_ want to say yes, but right now you're hurt and grasping for straws. Take some time to think it over please. Then if you r-really do want to try something wi-with me, ask again when you know you're not just trying to replace Sakura."

Naruto slowly nodded. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

Hinata wrapped her arms around his waist. "You didn't. I understand why you asked. The problem is I want you to ask because you want _me_, not because you can't have your first choice."

-End Flashback-

"After that we had to go to Tea Country so I had plenty of time to think things over." Naruto said to Sakura. "When Sasuke had to be treated again and you went off on your own, I found Hinata and told her I thought over things and decided that I did want to see what would happen if we tried to be couple. That time she accepted."

Sakura was silent for a moment, but Ayame smiled. "Looks like it was a good decision for you two."

"I can only hope so." Naruto said, but he now looked like he was feeling better.

"Naruto, did I really hurt you that much?" Sakura asked.

Naruto struggled to phrase it right. "Sakura, I'm not going to lie. Yes, you did. I could handle the hits and the insults because they actually weren't the worst I've gotten, but every time you ignored me, _that_ I couldn't handle. It got harder to handle it when we were on a team and you wouldn't even hold a conversation with me. But when I brought Baachan to save Sasuke and you hugged him so lovingly while never saying one grateful word to me before or since, I realized I just couldn't take it anymore. I spent thirteen years being unloved, enough was enough."

Sakura scooted forward until she was right in from of her blonde teammate. She reached over and wiped a tear from his eye. "Naruto, I'm so so sorry. I was an idiot, in more ways than one, and I'm not going to ask you to forgive me because I know you can't just yet. But there's something I need to tell you."

"What's that?"

"The reason I'm here with you rather than with Sasuke now. And why I don't plan on ever being with him again."


	9. Chapter 9

_Recommended Story: 'Love and Sacrifice' by Chris Uzumaki-sensei_

Chapter Nine

"Well, here we are. Sea Country, where no one should think to look for us first." Tsunade told her company as they looked at the ocean. Technically they were still within Land of Fire, but the island for Sea Country could be seen on the horizon.

"But that doesn't mean trackers or hunter nin can't find us here, so we shouldn't stay long." Shizune pointed out.

Tsunade nodded. "True. That's why we're going to rest and plan out our strategy here before creating a few false leads to distract any followers from our real goal."

"Which is?" Sakura asked.

"I'll tell you tonight when we're somewhere private. Let's look for a hotel and get some much needed R&R."

"Don't get too comfy. We still have to treat her you know." Kushina said, signaling to the still sedated Tayuya.

"After how she reacted last time, maybe it would be better to just let her die in her sleep." Tsunade said, remembering what happened when they tried healing Tayuya.

Flashback

Kushina laid down the redhead she found on her way to Konoha. "While we're giving my son some time to come to terms with everything, could we work on getting her stabilized?"

"Considering she's connected to the enemy, I've got mixed feelings on that." Tsunade said. "However, I suppose we can't simply ignore our Hippocratic Oath. And she could provide useful intel." She knelt down. "Shizune and I will at least allow her to talk. After that, her behavior and cooperation will prove how far our hospitality will extend."

Kushina nodded. "I understand completely."

The two medics got on both sides of the unconscious kunoichi and readied a diagnostic jutsu. "There's a lot of damage done to her lower body. I'd say she's probably paralyzed and will never walk again without neural-focused medical jutsu. And it looks like there's been a good amount of internal bleeding. By all logic this woman should be dead by now. How on earth have you kept her alive all this time?"

"I placed her in a state of suspended animation. But if she stays in it too long she will die for real. It only delays death, it doesn't fix anything. That part someone else has to do, and sadly I never learned how to heal." Kushina explained.

"You better wake her up then. That way what you did won't risk compromising what I'll do. Medic jutsus work best when a second jutsu isn't already in use." Tsunade said.

Kushina nodded and put the tip of her index finger on Tayuya's forehead. "Erelum."

The comatose kunoichi lightly stirred, just as if she was waking up from a nap. "But suddenly she winced and grimaced as if in great pain. She opened her eyes and roared out in pain, sounding like she was giving birth and passing a kidney stone at the same time. Then she started flailing around.

"Restrain her." Tsunade ordered, and Shizune and Kushina grabbed an arm each to hold her down. Tayuya struggled against them both and flailed the rest of her too, though her legs didn't move as freely as the rest of her did. If anything every time she kicked at nothing the sound of bones breaking could be heard, making her scream even more.

"Gtuuxu!" Kushina said, and next thing everyone knew Tayuya was frozen solid. "There, now ready whatever you're going to do and I'll unfreeze her. But you better do it fast, this method doesn't last long and isn't ceasing her pain."

Tsunade nodded rather than ask questions. "I'm going to start by soothing the nerve endings in her legs and numbing her muscles. Her lower body has the worst damage so it's likely that's what's causing her agony."

"Tsunade-sama, look!" Shizune said, catching her mentor's attention. Despite her frozen state, Tayuya was activating her curse mark.

"Dsuuq." Kushina immediately said as she touched Tayuya's forehead again. The flutist became unfrozen but slumped on the ground, as if forced to sleep. Her curse markings began to recede. "She did that too when I found her and I didn't like the look of it."

"What's going on?" Sakura asked as she and the others came back to the clearing they all stopped in.

"We tried treating this woman but apparently she's in quite a lot of pain. We may have to wait until we can find a hospital or at least somewhere indoors before we can do anything more for her." Tsunade answered.

"She sounded like she was dying." Naruto commented.

"She probably is. She's got a great deal of internal damage so she probably feels like she's been stepped on like a bug. If we can't heal her the best we can do is take care of her pain as she passes on." Shizune told him.

End Flashback

"I know it might be less painful to let her die, but the information she has could help us out quite a bit." Shizune added.

"Would she even provide it?" Naruto asked.

"Hard to say. The odds aren't in our favor, but we can be persuasive if we have to be." The slug sannin told him. "Now let's get a boat and head for the island. Best place to go right now."

A quick trip to a marina with a payment and they were out on the sea. The words of the boat provider bothered them though. "Be careful how far you venture. Plenty of people lately have been seeing something weird in the water." Naturally the ninja were undaunted, but they did keep the warning in mind.

"What do you think that guy meant?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"Probably just a shark or something." Ayame casually answered. "I wouldn't give it much thought. There have been tales of sea monsters as long as people have been aware of the ocean."

A few moments of silence before Naruto spoke up again. "I think I saw some kind of shadow move in the water."

Hinata activated her byakugan to settle his concern. "I don't see anything down th-wait!" All attention was on her now. "There _is_ something strange down there. Something human-sized."

"Okay everyone, be on your guard just in case. Hinata, keep an eye on it." Tsunade ordered.

Everyone got some kunais in their hands, even Moegi courtesy of Naruto, and waited while the boat continued forward. Hinata kept trying to see the apparition underwater, which moved around enough to be difficult for her to focus on. "It's hard to see, but it appears to only be observing us. Maybe it's trying to decide if we're food or a threat."

"Let's not provoke it then." Kushina said.

Nothing happened, but it wasn't until Hinata next spoke they relaxed. "It's gone out of my range. I guess it lost interest."

Five more uneventful minutes passed until they reached the shore of Sea Country right by a seaside town. There was no dock so they had to come to shore directly, and without an anchor or something to tie the boat to, Tsunade had to use her strength to pull the boat away from the water so the tide wouldn't take it away later, leaving them stranded.

"So what are we doing here again?" Sakura asked.

"We're going to find someplace to treat our captive, get as many supplies as we can, decide our next destination, and get some answers." Tsunade told the pinkette, giving Kushina a brief glance when she said the last part.

"I'll tell you everything, but I also want to know why you all had to leave Konoha and what your plan for being away is." The Uzumaki matriarch told the slug sannin.

"I'll tell that too, but first let's find shelter."

"Excuse me." A stranger's voice called out. Everyone turned to a small alcove dune, and from behind it a girl's head stuck out. She had short purple hair that looked like she cut it herself, though two locks were long enough to frame her face. Her face also had medical wrap across her forehead and under her left eye, making her almost look like a Danzou-wannabe if it weren't for the fact her eyes and smile radiated warmth.

"Yes?" Kushina asked.

"If you need shelter, I know where you can find some."

"And who are you exactly?" Tsunade asked.

"Nobody important, just a simple diver who lives in the area. My name's Isaribi."

"A diver?" Naruto asked, unaware anyone could do such a thing for a living.

Isaribi nodded. "Yeah, I dive and gather things like lobsters, oysters, coral, and occasionally wreckage that still has value. Not always easy or profitable, but I love my work."

"Are you in need of treatment as well?" Tsunade asked, eyeing the bandages.

Isaribi shook her head. "No thank you. I've already been treated."

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"I ran into some jellyfish on my last dive. I'm fine now, but my skin's still a little sensitive."

"I better take a look at it then. Jellyfish stings often have residual damage." Tsunade said.

Isaribi looked nervous. "No, really, I'm fine."

"Please, if you're offering us help, the least I can do is return the favor."

The purple-haired bandaged girl then ran off.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked.

"There's something suspicious about her. She was afraid of me inspecting her body. My guess is jellyfish weren't really the cause of her trouble." The slug sannin thought out loud. "But for now, let's focus more on our own group."

* * *

><p>An hour later the Konoha refuges had found a hotel in the town. Kushina, Tsunade, and Shizune were in the room tending to Tayuya while Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Ayame, and Moegi were at the beach killing time. None of them had brought swimsuits so none tried to go swimming.<p>

Tayuya had thrashed, screamed, and fought back during her treatment, and if not for a sound barrier in place it was likely the local authorities would have shown up. But finally, she stopped and passed out, her pain relieved.

Tsunade wiped her forehead with her forearm. "There. She's out of danger and can in time be fully recovered. I patched her up enough to talk but not walk or use her chakra effectively. For now, when we question her, she will only be able to answer or stay silent, nothing else."

"What was that you used on her Kushina?" Shizune asked, having never gotten around to asking that the other night.

"Mana spells. Think of it like jutsu but requiring incantations instead of handsigns and it uses mana instead of chakra."

"What exactly is mana?" Tsunade asked.

"The best way I can describe it to you is it's an energy like chakra but not identical. Like chakra, it's based on physical and spiritual power and can have elemental attributes. Unlike chakra, it's more focused on the spiritual part so it's strength is determined and tied to one's will power over physical strength, so being fit like a ninja is not required to wield it. Also, it does not act the same way elementally. A person's mana can only be used one way elementally, or neutrally for non-elemental spells, so unlike chakra, which has a single affinity but doesn't limit a person to just that one element, mana does."

"So... you can use mana and chakra together?" Tsunade asked.

"I used to be able to, long ago. Now I can't. Now I'm limited to just mana. All jutsu I used to know are useless."

"Why are you limited?" Tsunade asked.

"I had access to a chakra source when I was younger. Messed up a lot about my growth and development as a succubus, but it allowed me to use chakra. Until it was removed and I was stuck using mana only again. For a brief time there was some residual chakra in me, but I used it all up in the Kyuubi resealing." Kushina answered.

"Wait a minute, _re_sealing? What do you mean by that?" Tsunade asked.

"Where do you think the kyuubi was _before_ it appeared in Konoha that day?" Kushina asked back.

Tsunade shrugged. "I never thought about it. I did know it had been sealed in my grandmother one time, but I was never told where it went after that. I thought it was restrained in some sort of sacred object for a time. My grandfather's necklace couldn't have been the _only_ special item he had after all. My granduncle had a special sword too. I figured there was some special object the Senju owned that contained the Kyuubi until the day it escaped. The ichibi was rumored to be contained in an iron teakettle for a time so it made sense to me."

The redhead sighed. "Tsunade, the kyuubi was sealed in another person after Mito-sama but before Naruto. That person was me."

Tsunade was wide-eyed. "You?" Shizune was equally surprised. "Why?"

"Because Mito-sama had faith in me being able to contain the fox and not be influenced by it. I asked her not to, because I wasn't so sure I could handle it, but she told me I had a loving heart and love was the best way to keep the kyuubi contained. Something about that stuck with me and... I ended up becoming the second jinchuuriki of the kyuubi."

Tsunade was momentarily silent. "Why wasn't I told this?"

"Did you ever ask?"

Tsunade thought it over. "No, I guess I didn't. As long as there was no threat I didn't ask why. But why couldn't you have told me?"

"I heard stories of jinchuuriki's getting hostile treatment in their own villages. Some better than others, but usually friendless. Why would I go announcing that I was one?" Kushina asked.

Shizune nodded. "Don't forget Tsunade-sama you criticized the Sandaime for telling the public about Naruto being one, so how can you be upset for Kushina preferring her secret remain a secret?"

The slug sannin sighed. "You're right. But... if you're a succubus, how could you even contain the kyuubi?"

"I guess the sealing was done really well. Or maybe my mana countered it's chakra. My mana was mistaken for a special anti-bijuu chakra after all, so maybe they were partially right. I don't know, but all I wish is it was strong enough to prevent the fox from escaping while I gave birth." Kushina said with a sad sigh. "At least while I did have the fox in me, I was able to use chakra successfully, but I haven't been able to since it escaped. The bad news is the fox's chakra screwed up my natural growth. I grew up like a human rather than a succubus normally does, and apparently I didn't need to orgasm to regulate my powers like normal succubi do. I didn't even realize this was unusual since I was raised by the Uzumaki clan more than the succubi race."

"How did you even come in contact with the Uzumaki's if you came from a different world?" Shizune asked.

"It was mostly chance. My dying caretaker was taking me away from a revolution and we went here to Midgard to escape. She... didn't make it, killed in Yggdrasil, so I was left here alone with no idea how to get back to Alfheim. I was really young at the time, and the Uzumaki were fleeing the destruction of Uzushio at the time and in the confusion I was mistaken for a member. With nowhere else to go, I didn't bother correcting them. I just waited until the fight ended and someone would come back for me."

Kushina then sarcastically laughed. "How ironic. As a kid all I wanted was to go home and fit in here until I did. It wasn't until I decided _this_ was my home that I was brought back to Alfheim against my will and without my family. The Fates have a sick sense of humor."

"Why did you have to leave... this other world?" Tsunade asked.

Kushina looked down, avoiding eye contact by focusing more on the sleeping Tayuya. "I'd rather tell that to my son first if you don't mind. It's part of the reason why I was taken away from him too."

* * *

><p>"The sun sure feels nice." Sakura said lying on her back, her arms folded above her head. "Too bad this isn't a vacation."<p>

"I hope we can go swimming while we're here." Moegi commented. "Can we go get some swimsuits Boss?"

"Does anyone here have money?" Naruto asked, not sounding like his heart was in the subject.

"I do, but I'd rather save it for an emergency." Sakura answered.

"I only have what's left of my last mission pay on me." Hinata added.

"I've got plenty, and I suppose I could spare a little for some fun while we're out and about." Ayame said. "I just don't know where to shop."

Sakura got on her feet. "Let's go ask someone."

Naruto sighed. "Why not?"

No one asked about his mood. They knew he was trying to act like he was back to normal, but he was still coming to terms with everything he learned. The identity of his father. The fact that the Sandaime had to yield on his safety a few times. His lack-for-a-better-term demonic mother and his own apparent demonic nature which had nothing to do with the Kyuubi. And that was only the stuff he had already learned. There was bound to be more he had yet to be told.

At least now he had been able to apply a henge to hide his tail so he didn't feel like a sideshow freak on display.

The group walked down the beach trying to find someone, Hinata having her arm wrapped around Naruto's and her head resting on his shoulder. Sakura sent them a friendly smile, but she couldn't help feeling slightly jealous.

"Go away!" A girl's voice shouted, drawing their attention. Up ahead they saw a girl being chased by a trio close to her own age it seemed, and they were throwing rocks at her.

"Freak!"

"Ugly!"

"Hobo!"

Naruto got flashbacks to his own youth at hearing and seeing this, and his blood began to boil. Hinata could feel him tense and get angry and let go so he could react as he wanted. In no time Naruto ran forward.

The bullied girl fell onto the sand and her harassers didn't stop stoning her. They even started kicking her. Before someone could try something new, Naruto and many clones had grabbed ahold of them all. "What gives?"

Naruto glared. "I should ask the same thing. Is there a reason you're doing this? Or are you just picking on someone who won't fight back?" Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his friends run up to help him.

"Why do you care for this human garbage?" One of the bullies asked.

"You've got three seconds to give me an answer instead of a question." Naruto demanded. "One..."

"She's an eyesore to our town. We have a duty and a right to get rid of her." A different bully stated like he was fighting for a righteous cause.

"Funny. People say the same about me back home. But even I have friends."

"So what?" The third bully asked.

Hinata struck one from behind with her juuken, making him unable to stand. Sakura hit the second one on the head, making him skid across the sand and pass out. Ayame simply kicked the third bully between the legs from behind, making him fall to his knees screaming in a high octave.

"That's 'so what'." Naruto said with a hint of a laugh. He then turned to face the victim. "You're okay no... wait. You're that diver girl from before."

Isaribi blinked. "What do you want?"


	10. Chapter 10

_Recommended Story: 'Shinsei Kuchiyose Seshuu: True Summoning Heritage' by BonclaysFan_

_I also want to tell everyone about a challenge that I helped Crossoverpairinglover create. It's for the Percy Jackson series and called the Silver Rebellion challenge. It focuses on the goddess Artemis feeling threatened by the other Olympians and deciding to do something about it. Check it out if you're interested._

Chapter Ten

"Looks like she's waking up." Shizune said as she noticed Tayuya display signs of regaining consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered a few times without actually opening and her rate of breathing seemed to be controlled now rather than unconsciously steady.

The redhead finally opened her eyes completely, though they were unfocused. When they did focus and she saw three strange woman above her, her reflexes told her to create some distance. Too bad her body told her it couldn't even sit up under it's own power, and her throat wasn't in any mood to work either.

One of the women around her was also a redhead and she gently placed her right hand on Tayuya's throat. "Nu daeyjuf." Instantly Tayuya felt her throat relax and return to a state of normal. She was thirsty as well but now she could speak.

"Wa... ter."

Tsunade held up a glass of water and gently held it to the Oto kunoichi's lips. Normally Tayuya wouldn't be caught dead drinking like this, but her arms could barely be lifted and she was too thirsty to resist for more than two seconds. The coolness of the cold clear liquid going down her esophagus was like a divine blessing to her thirst.

"Feel better?" Kushina asked.

"Somewhat. Now who the fuck are you and where the hell am I?"

"We're the ones who saved your life and you're in our custody. If you want to be able to walk again you'll cooperate, and if you'd rather be stubborn we'll find out how well you can swim in this state." Tsunade replied.

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "If that's your idea of a fucking ultimatum you're dumber than what people give blondes credit for."

Tsunade frowned and cracked her knuckles. "And if that's your idea of gratitude then you must be suicidal."

"Why should I be fucking grateful? You only saved me because you bitches want something from me, and if you get it I'm just going to be useless crap to you and you'll get rid of me without a second thought." Tayuya calmly answered with closed eyes, as if trying to relax.

"Considering who you're connected to would you honestly expect anything else?" Tsunade asked.

"I'll give you that much, but can you say I'm wrong?"

"I might, provided you convince me appropriately." Kushina answered, making the other women curious and confused.

"What do you mean?" Shizune asked. Kushina just kept her gaze on Tayuya. "Miss, so I don't call you something you don't like, could you tell me your name?"

The downed kunoichi just stared blinking a few times, when sneered. "My name's none of your fucking business."

Kushina smiled. "Hobu su jamudy emdruta."

"What?" Tayuya asked, not understanding a word. At the same time she felt a weird tingle over her skin, sort of like a full body feather caress. "What did you say? You better not have done anything to me you bitch."

"No need for vulgarity here. Now, do you like working for Orochimaru?"

"No one really _likes_ working for him. Maybe a couple do, but anyone _that_ depraved would also be the type of person to backstab the bastard when it looked like they could succeed." Tayuya responded.

"Do you want to go back to him?"

"Would you?"

"That's not what I asked." Kushina said.

Tayuya sighed. "Not that I believe you give a damn but... it's not like I have anywhere else to go if I could walk. Oto's the kind of place only a sadist would enjoy being in, and while I occasionally had some fun, I saw things that would make your hair turn white."

"And I've seen things that would make your hair fall out." Kushina countered calmly. "But your point is that you wish not to go back?"

Tayuya mock-laughed. "While I'm at it, why don't I wish my sister was still alive and it rained chocolate?"

"No need to be so crass to us. I'm just trying to understand you better." Kushina told her.

"Why would you _want_ to understand me?" Tayuya asked.

"Because I don't believe in treating someone as an enemy by association. You're connected to Orochimaru, but you're not Orochimaru so we should not treat you like you are. I wish to know if you're a sympathizer to him or a mere subject so I know what we should do about you. Also, you remind me of someone I lost, so I can't just disregard you."

Needless to say Tayuya was quite surprised to hear this, but that didn't mean she believed it. "So? So what the fuck does that mean? My whole life since I was taken that snake people have always regarded me with absolutes and black-and-white views so why the fuck should I believe you? I'd have to be dumber than a sack of shit to believe you just because you _say_ you're not like that."

Kushina leaned closer, narrowed her eyes, and spoke like her words were tempered steel. "Because we're your only chance for being able to walk let alone live again, and I'm sure even a foul-mouthed slut such as yourself values her pathetic life. Now, unless you want me to give new meaning to the term 'titty fuck' by ripping off your tits and shoving them up your pussy and _then_ start getting nasty, I suggest you learn to play nice."

'Holy hell!' Tsunade and Shizune thought, slightly backing away in panic. "Where did that come from?" Tsunade asked.

Kushina smiled sweetly at the blonde hokage, but it didn't look friendly. "When you want to get a message across, you've got to speak in terms they understand."

Tayuya paled too, but then plastered on a fake confident grin. "Do your worse."

"Oh that was the wrong thing to say."

* * *

><p>Isaribi had put up a bit of a struggle when Naruto insisted on bringing her to Tsunade, but she was outnumbered and overpowered so they were bringing her to the medic. The weird thing is, once they got there, they saw Tsunade and Shizune sitting outside the hotel room both sipping sake. The windows and door were closed and covered, so it was impossible to see what was going on.<p>

"Hey Baachan, why aren't you inside with the other woman?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, your mother is handling her for now. She's a stubborn patient, so Kushina needs to... wear her down a bit first before we can do anything." Tsunade answered, just before the sound of something breaking in the room could be heard.

"Tsunade-sama, maybe we should intervene and stop this."

"If you want to, be my guest Shizune." Tsunade told her. As she expected, Shizune did not move.

Concerned, Hinata activated her byakugan. "I don't see any fighting, but I do see some broken glass over the floor. Kushina-san is showing off her wings and tail and the other woman looks scared."

"There's a woman with wings in there?" Isaribi asked.

"And who's this?" Tsunade asked. "Wait, aren't you that diver girl with the jellyfish story?"

"Yeah it's her. We saw her being attacked and she's having a hard time moving. Can you treat her?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade put down her sake bottle. "Sure. Gotta pass the time somehow."

Isaribi gave her a pleading look. "Please... don't. Just leave me alone."

"Your wounds aren't from jellyfish, are they?" Tsunade asked. Tearfully and frightened, Isaribi could only nod. "A person gave you whatever you're covering up, right?"

Isaribi just looked away. "Yes, but it's not what you think."

"Many girls say that when they're in trouble, and no offense, but you have domestic violence victim written all over you."

"I wish it was that simple." The purple-haired girl whispered to herself, but those close to her still heard it.

Ayame suddenly did a few hand signs. "Forced Sleep Jutsu." She then touched Isaribi's forehead and the diver was knocked unconscious. "She'll only be out for about ten minutes max, likely less, so Tsunade-sama if you want to see what's wrong with her I'd do it fast."

The medic nodded and had Isaribi set down on a mat so sand and dirt wouldn't get in the way then peeled back the bandages on her left arm. Once they were loose and the skin exposed she gasped and dropped the loose wrappings. "Wha... what is this?"

Everyone curiously looked at the exposed arm, and gasped too at what they saw. Green scales in place of human skin.

"Could that be normal for her?" Naruto asked. "I saw a guy from Kiri with blue skin who looked like a human and shark combined. Maybe she's similar."

"If that were true it's likely all her skin would be this way. No, instead I think this condition was forced onto her." Tsunade said, checking the other bandaged areas. Sure enough, there were more scales all over her in random places. "And look at this." She pointed to the border because the normal skin and green scales, where there were light red blotches. "That's scar tissue, classic sign of skin grafts. Someone's basically taking this girl's skin off and replacing it medically with new animalistic skin."

"Oh that's disgusting." Moegi said.

Tsunade nodded. "And what's worse is the body can easily reject the new skin, making it eventually peel off and leave her more vulnerable to infection and copious bleeding. In order for me to treat her, I'm going to need a hospital and donor skin. Here and now, there's barely anything I can do."

"Why would anyone do such a thing like this?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. This sounds like one of Orochimaru's..." Tsunade stopped for a moment. "This is _too_ much like something Orochimaru would do to be coincidental. Either he has a lab here, or there's some other sick twisted bastard here trying to turn people into something. Hinata, please see if there's any internal change to this girl."

Hinata nodded and activated her byakugan again. "I don't see anything wrong with her muscles, though her bones look different. Like there's more cartilage in them then there should be. The interior of her lungs look unusual to me, like they're a bit underdeveloped, and there's... something that looks like two bumps on the sides of her trachea in her neck. Also, the outer layer of her chakra network looks larger than normal but not as large as Naruto-kuns, and I think I see some kind of chemical in her bloodstream."

Tsunade struggled to remain calm. "Okay, I originally brought us here to give us some time to plan ahead the rest of our trip, but while we're here, we should find out what's going on with this poor girl."

No one argued.

The door to the room opened and a normal yet worn out Kushina looked out. "Well I'm done. She's ready to cooperate."

"I swear when my legs works the first thing I'm going to do is kick your ass until your legs don't work instead." Tayuya could be heard saying.

"That's ready to cooperate?" Shizune asked.

"Surprisingly yes." Kushina said, then noticed the unconscious girl. "Who's that?"

"An unfortunate victim of something unnatural." Tsunade answered. "While we're here we should look into it. This is inhumane and too much like Orochimaru's type of work."

"Well lucky for us we have someone connected to Orochimaru himself to confirm if he's involved."

"Oh right. Let's see if Miss Foulmouth really is ready to talk." Tsunade said as she got up. "Bring her in too." The others carefully brought Isaribi in and placed her on one of the beds.

While not able to sit up or move much under her own power, Tayuya could see they brought in another girl. "Another one? What's with your group and abducting helpless women? Boy here got a fetish?"

Naruto frowned at her. "I don't know what that is, but I'm assuming it's gross."

"Depends on the nature of the fetish." Kushina commented to herself, then recomposed herself. "Tell me, does Orochimaru have any operations in this country?"

Tayuya looked up. "Remind me where we are again."

"Sea Country."

The Oto kunoichi looked like she was trying to recall something. "Rings a bell, but nothing specific."

"We've got a girl here suffering from unnatural skin grafts. Does that jog your memory?" Tsunade asked.

"I've seen worse. But still no."

Sakura frowned. "You could at least sound like you're empathetic to her."

Tayuya leaned up to glare at the pinkette. "Well sor-ry for not crying over every tragedy I hear about, Pinkie. I've been thru quite a few myself so don't expect me to cry a fucking river over some skin injury."

Angry, Tsunade showed the defiant woman the scales on Isaribi's arm. "Does _this_ look like 'some skin injury' to you?"

"Looks bad, but I still don't see the big deal."

"Have you no heart?" Hinata asked.

"My heart took a big hit the day my family was killed on our pilgrimage to Konoha, and it finally died the day my sister was killed and Orochimaru took my burned body to Oto and branded me with his slave seal." Tayuya said as she leaned back on the floor, her crossed arms behind her head.

Naruto looked confused. "You were once part of Konoha? When?"

"When I was a kid. My family was nearly wiped out when our original village was wiped out, and what remained immigrated to Konoha. My father, sister and I lived there for a few years, but they died in a fire and Orochimaru got me out of it and took me away. I've been stuck with him since."

Kushina looked bothered, like she was recalling a bad memory. "Your family immigrated into Konoha when you were a child?"

"You hard of hearing?"

"Tell me your name please." Kushina kindly asked.

The downed redhead looked up at the active redhead with confusion. "Tayuya."

Kushina's eyes widened a bit. "Tayuya? Yaya-chan?"

The Oto kunoichi's eyes were now even wider than her interrogators. "How do you know that stupid nickname?" She then gasped. "No way. It's impossible. Kushina-nee-chan?"

"You two are related?" Naruto asked, the others as surprised as he was.

Kushina and Tayuya ignored them in favor of seeing any hint the other was not who they thought they were. "Only my sister called me Yaya-chan, and only she would know that nickname. I swear if you're an imposter-" Tayuya was stopped by a sudden hug from Kushina.

"I thought you died. I thought the fire killed you like it did Otou-san." Kushina sobbed.

"I thought _you_ died. I saw you on fire."

"That wasn't me. I was taken out by the Sandaime. I told him you and the others were still in there, but they only found charred and ashen bodies. You were declared dead when Orochimaru escaped. I cried for days."

"Me too." Tayuya surprised herself by hugging the other woman and even crying a tiny bit. "That bastard... used a seal to make me his slave. I had to become a monster or die, and I was afraid to die so I went along with it. Nee-chan, please forgive me."

"If you can forgive me for not being able to find you. I'm just glad to have more of my family back."

"You're an Uzumaki?" Tsunade asked.

Tayuya pulled away a little bit. "Surnames have no purpose in Oto so we never use them except for legal purposes, but yeah, my surname is Uzumaki. Orochimaru was determined to find a way to claim our kekkei genkai for himself, so he tried to abduct all of us in Konoha before he defected. I was the only one he succeeded in taking. The others died fighting him off the day he was forced to leave Konoha."

"Well this certainly makes things more interesting. So, you willing to cooperate with us more now?" Tsunade asked.

"Get this fucking seal off me and I'll strip for Blondie here." The flutist told her.

Naruto blushed and Kushina shook her head. "Imouto, Blondie there is my son."

"Son?" Tayuya repeated, surprised. "Well then I guess that makes me your aunt kid."

"In that case, please don't strip for me." Naruto told her, feeling bothered by the idea.

* * *

><p>"You sure they're here?" Ino asked.<p>

Shino nodded. "My insect has traced Hinata's scent to this country and location. She is here, and inside this hotel."

"So what do you propose we do now?" Tenten asked.

"I think I know what to do." Ino said "I have a clear shot at one of them from here. I can get in there and hear what they're up to."

"I could send in one of my insects to observe, but I agree that your direct approach is better. Provided you keep your cover." Shino stated.

"I'm a natural Shino. Watch and learn. Mind Transfer Jutsu."

* * *

><p>Back in the hotel room, Tsunade and Shizune were going over Tayuya and Isaribi again, with Sakura and Hinata trying to help and learn what to do. Isaribi had regained consciousness but no longer struggled to get away from them, especially after Naruto showed her his new tail, making her no longer feel alone.<p>

Tayuya was surprised to hear about Kushina's true species. "So all this time Nee-chan you've been a sex demon? And to think back when we were kids I was called the pretty one."

"So are you two really sisters?" Sakura asked.

"Not by blood no. Her father took me in when the Uzumaki left Uzushio. We lived together until Orochimaru interfered. She's my sister and Naruto's aunt in name, not genetics." Kushina answered. "I think I can try to get your seal off you, but since I don't have chakra anymore I may need someone else to actually do the job while I get it set up. But it will take some time to get it right since I'm a bit rusty on fuinjutsu."

Tayuya shrugged. "You could have a retarded pervert lick it off for all I care. Just get it off."

"Well I can't say for certain what can be done about the seal, my diagnostic of you two leads me to believe that treating you both could take years of recovery." Tsunade said. She first faced Isaribi. "Without proper knowledge of what was done to you, I don't dare try to undo it and risk making it just get worse. And even if I did understand, getting the reversal procedure done right will not be accomplished overnight." Isaribi looked heartbroken, and Tsunade adverted her gaze to Tayuya. "Your case is similar to a boy I just treated back in Konoha, but the seal Orochimaru placed on you has left internal corrosive damage to your body and chakra network. So the rate of success is even less for you than it was for the boy with crushed bones and tendons. Trying to cure you would make the medic jutsu try to undo the corrosion and your seal is likely to interpret that as a threat to itself and counteract or overpower any help I can do. Until that mark is sealed up good or removed, I don't think you'll be able to walk again."

"So we're stuck like this for who knows how long? Fuck!" Tayuya said.

"Is there really no other option for them Baachan?" Naruto asked.

Kushina cleared her throat. "This may not be the best solution, but I do know of a way to heal them both that could work perfectly."

All eyes were on her. "What do you mean?"

Kushina refused to give anyone eye contact. "It's sort of a kinjutsu that's being kept under wraps right now. It can return someone to perfect health. But... it has a side-effect. If done to them both, they will be the picture of health, but... they'll be turned into succubi."


	11. Chapter 11

_Recommended Story: 'The Jutsu of Love?' by Marchgirl_

Chapter Eleven

"What? You're joking right?" Moegi asked.

Kushina shook her head. "I wish I was. The thing I'm speaking of... it wasn't created with the best of intentions, and personally I'd rather see it destroyed. But if it _can_ be put to good use, then I suppose it's only right that these two at least hear the offer."

Everyone just stared at her wide-eyed, like they were all convinced they had misheard her. Tayuya was the first to respond. "Well if you think it's worth mentioning Nee-chan, I'll at least her ya out."

Kushina settled herself, showing that the topic at hand wasn't exactly her favorite subject. "Do any of you know of any jutsu designed to alter the physical shape of a ninja?"

"You mean like a henge?" Sakura asked.

"That's what I was thinking of." Kushian exclaimed, looking a little brighter now. "I've been so busy I've forgotten a lot about jutsu over the years. It's kind of hard to remember them all when you little by little lose the ability to use them and have to focus learning on a substitute. Anyway, what I'm talking about is like a henge, only it causes a true transformation of the body on a cellular level. Even internal changes happen. A true transformation into a different species, but unlike a metamorphosis, it's not natural."

"That sounds... amazing." Shizune said. Several in the room nodded in agreement.

"Is that really possible?" Hinata asked.

"It is. But it's a very limited procedure, because it was designed to do one thing during a time when the creators were desperate for results." The Uzumaki matriarch answered. "But long story short, this process can turn a human being into a succubus."

"Is that what happened to you Mom?" Naruto asked. Suddenly everyone else was wondering the same.

Kushina shook her head. "No, that's not what happened at all son. I was this way since I was born, but I was a late bloomer as a succubus."

"A late bloomer succubus? Not to make fun of you or anything, but that sounds crazy." Tsunade said.

Kushina nodded. "I know. Normally succubi start and finish puberty when they're 11. I grew more like a human here, due to a certain influence."

"Mom?" Naruto asked, catching her attention. "You said you knew something that can turn a person into a demon. Do you know something that can do the opposite?"

Kushina said nothing, but her face showed she had something important to say. After a moment she sighed. "Naruto, if you're asking me if I can stop your change to incubus, I can't. I'm sorry, but what's you're asking for doesn't exist to my knowledge."

Naruto looked down, looking so beaten. "It's just... I've been called a monster by everyone for as long as I can remember. Heck, for years I thought my name was 'Demon' because that's what people kept calling me. I just don't want this to happen because it's means they're right."

Kushina left Tayuya's side to sit right in front of her son. "Naruto, it does not mean that at all."

"Yes it does." Naruto countered, still not looking at anyone. "You just said I can never be human and you've told me I never was to begin with. So of course they were right. I'm everything everyone said I was."

Hinata immediately embraced Naruto from behind but everyone could see she was lightly frowning. "Naruto-kun, stop this. This is not you. The Naruto-kun I know doesn't let other people define his identity for him. If you did, wouldn't you have quit trying to be a ninja, let alone hokage, a long time ago?"

"This is different Hinata-chan." Naruto told her.

"And exactly how is this different?" She immediately asked.

"Because now what they said is true." He told her, still refusing to look at anyone. "I'm not human, therefore I'm a monster. I-"

"No Naruto-kun, stop right there." Hinata forcefully said as she moved to be right in front of him. She even grabbed his chin, and he still tried to avoid looking at anyone, so she grabbed both sides of his face. "Naruto-kun, look at me. If I mean anything to you, look at me right now." She insisted, and luckily he complied. "What you're saying makes zero sense. Is Akamaru a monster? Are the toads you summon monsters? Are they?"

"N-no." The blonde made himself saying.

"Neither are you. They are not human beings, but they certainly are not monsters. And why is that? It's because they don't act like monsters. You're only a monster if you behave like one. And you Naruto-kun have never acted like a monster. Human or not, you are still my boyfriend. Promise me you will never call yourself a monster again. Promise me Naruto-kun."

"Hinata-chan, I don't think it's that easy." He softly said.

The next one to speak to him was Ayame. "Naruto, try not to have such a black-and-white view on this. Think about it this way, Orochimaru is a human, but he's not exactly humane is he? He's a real monster, and it's not because of claws or tails or even something like tentacles. It's because he enjoys making people suffer and causing destruction just for the hell of it. _That's_ a monster, and like your girlfriend said, that's not you. And if that's not enough to convince you, I don't think anything we say can."

The whiskered boy slowly looked at his girlfriend, his surrogate sister, his mother, then all the other girls in the room. They each waited curiously, waiting to hear his response. "Hinata-chan, Ayame-nee-chan, it's not that I can't believe you, but... I worry if I change like this, I won't be the same person anymore. Look at Sasuke, when he got that mark he stopped being who he used to be."

"I don't think the mark is the only reason he acted like that Naruto." Sakura told him. "And even so, I don't think the mark created his bad behavior, but instead encouraged it."

Kushina leaned closer to her distraught son. "Son, I think I know something that might put your mind at ease on this." She saw he looked curious and hopeful. "How about you see where I've been these past few years? See others like us and how they live. That should show you that you have nothing to be afraid of."

"Seriously?" Naruto asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes. You deserve it. And I'm sure the people there would love to see you too."

"Why?"

Kushina looked like she briefly didn't know how to best answer. "Maybe you'll understand better once we actually get there. Would you like to see it Son?"

"Only if we all get to go too." He insisted.

Kushina nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Not to be rude, but didn't you say you had a way to return me to normal?" Isaribi asked.

"Oh right, sorry." Kushina said, straightening up and looking at the bandaged girl. "I'm not a healer so maybe there are other ways than the one I described, but the only one that does come to mind is one that turns a human into a succubus. You would be the picture of health, at the cost of becoming a different species."

Isaribi closed her eyes and shook her head. "Thanks, but I'd rather not forsake my humanity like that. After what's been done to me, I'd rather not lose more of it. I'll just wait until Amachi-sama can cure me."

Tsunade looked doubtful. "Unless this person has some sort of miracle cure, such a process to undo that kind of damage will take years to complete. What exactly caused this to happen to you anyway?"

Isaribi looked at the wall, like she was trying to pretend the situation didn't exist. "That story about the jellyfish, that wasn't exactly a lie. It did happen, but not recently, more like a year ago. I lost consciousness for a while and woke up in a private lab, run by a marine biologist named Amachi. He offered me the chance to recover free of charge, as long as I agree to be a human guinea pig to a experimental medicine for jellyfish venom. I was in a lot of pain and still dazed so I agree. It worked, but... you can see it had nasty side effects. Since then he's been trying to find a cure, as well as seeing what the extent of my change has been."

The others looked shocked and sympathetic to her, Tayuya less so, while Tsunade looked judgmental. "I'm sorry to tell you this miss... what was your name again?"

"Isaribi."

"Isaribi, I'm sorry to say this, but something like this cannot be cured by a mere serum. From what I've seen, you underwent skin grafts. That requires more skin grafts to reverse, not medicine alone."

"Skin grafts?" The diver asked, looking at the slug sannin. "That can't be. I never had any skin grafts."

"Were you ever given anything that made you unconscious by this man?" Tsunade asked.

Isaribi nodded. "Yes. Sometimes my medication made me drowsy, but lots of stuff you can find in an everyday medicine cabinet does that."

"True, but he could have easily sedated you in order to perform these skin grafts and make you think they were a mere side effect of what he was giving you, which likely is what caused the internal change to your body. Also, don't you think it's weird that a marine biologist would know how to treat people like a doctor?"

Something seemed to click in the bandaged girl's mind. "I didn't think of that before, but now that you mention it..." Then she shook her head. "No, I can't believe that. Amachi-sama is my only chance for returning to normal. I have to believe he can. If I don't, what hope do I have left?"

"Alright, we won't tell you what to do. But how about you let us see this man for ourselves? Just so we know he knows what he's doing." Shizune offered.

Isaribi thought it over. "I don't see why not. But can we do it tomorrow?"

"Sure. Sounds acceptable."

"Hey, can we get some grub? I feel like I haven't eaten a fucking thing in a week." Tayuya stated.

Kushina smiled at her sister. "That's not that far from the truth imouto."

* * *

><p>After a few more moments, Ino returned to her own body.<p>

"What did you find out?" Shino asked.

"Something very strange is going on in that group. Either they've gone crazy or they know more than I could find out. We should hang around and keep watch without exposing ourselves until we can learn more."

"They're not doing anything illegal or threatening to Konoha are they?" Tenten asked. Not that she believed her idol Tsunade would be involved in such shady deals, but her professional side needed to rule out the possibility.

"Not that I saw, but... what I did hear made no sense at all. I need to learn more." Ino said. 'All that talk about monsters and transforming and Naruto, and that woman that calls him her son. What is going on here?'

"It would be wise to continue our observations until we learn something concrete then." Shino told the two kunoichi. "I will leave an insect in the room that will rotate with another periodically in order to gather more intel. Tenten-san, do you have a means to listen in?"

"Yes, but I'll need a distraction to get it properly set up. I can plant a listening device in their room but I'd need them all to leave first. For now, we're better off using your method Shino."

* * *

><p>Dinner passed and night came, and everyone was asleep. With no immediate threats to worry about, the entire group went to sleep and didn't bother assigning night watchmen. Isaribi and Tayuya were given the bed since they were the injured of the group and everyone else got the floor. Tsunade and Shizune slept on the side of the room closest to the outside door in case someone did try to come in from there, while the rest slept on the other side where there was more room.<p>

Naruto seemed to be surrounded by girls right then. Hinata was curled up right next to him while Kushina was on his other side, just not as close to him as Hinata was. Moegi slept by Naruto's head for a sense of security and Sakura slept by his feet, also finding herself longing for a sense of closeness to him.

After over an hour of sleep, Isaribi carefully opened an eye and looked over the room. Fortunately her experience being underwater so much enabled her to see fine in low-light situations. When she was certain no one else was awake, she moved as quietly as she could out of the bed. Tiptoeing her way around the others, she carefully made it to the front door and grasped the handle, giving her caretakers one last look.

'You're all nice people, even if the oddest bunch I've ever seen. But I can't risk angering Amachi-sama and being cut off from him. He's my only chance to be me again. I need to get back to him. At least this way you won't become new test subjects for him like I did.'

The diver felt a pang of guilt, for when she first saw the group reach sea Country she had plans to bring them to Amachi. He said he needed other people to be brought to him for various experiments, all of which would help reach his goal. Not much of a technical person, Isaribi couldn't understand much of the jargon he used when asked and grew to stop asking. All he told her that she did understand was with others brought to him he'd be able to understand how to reverse the change before using anything directly on her. Last time he tried, she gained her kaima form, and feared future experiments on her would make it impossible to be anything but a kaima for the rest of her life.

'You showed mercy to me, I'll repay the favor by not subjecting you to Amachi-sama's work to save myself. Just please, don't follow after me.' She thought as she quietly turned the knob, opened the door, and walked out of the room. fortunately for her, the hotels night shift were not present in the hallway at this time so she was able to walk undetected until she reached a door outside.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Kushina standing there. "I think you took a wrong turn to the bathroom." she said, sounding like she was joking but knew full well what the purple-haired girl was really doing.

"What? But how?"

Kushina held up her right hand, and from right out of the palm a golden chain emerged ad quickly wrapped itself around the girl. The chain separated from kushina but she held onto it like a leash. Then Tsunade and Ayame appeared beside her. "Think she's being controlled?"

"How do we tell for a guarantee?" Kushina asked.

"Allow me." Ayame said before she formed a tiger sign and poked the spot where the nose separates from the forehead. "Eject!" Nothing happened. "Good. She's not under the control of somebody else. A friend of mine was a Yamanaka, so I learned how to force out an outside influence like that."

"Okay, with that settled, tell us why in Kami's name you were sneaking out tonight." Tsunade insisted.

"How did you know I even was? You were all asleep." Isaribi asked.

"Experienced ninja like us are all light sleepers. And we suspected something amiss before dinner so we were on our guard but chose not to show it. Gotta admit we didn't think you'd try to do this." Ayame explained.

"Please let me go. I need this. It's my only chance." Isaribi pleaded.

"No it isn't. We can help you. We can't guarantee it will be quick or painless, but we are a possibility. You're not limited to only one option." Tsunade told her.

"And what do you expect in return?" Isaribi asked.

"For starters we will want you to keep everything you know about us a secret. Beyond that, we can work something out." Kushina said. "I know my son would enjoy more friends, but I can't insist you do that. That can only come naturally."

Ayame gestured to Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, I think we have eavesdroppers nearby."

"I sense them as well." The sannin whispered back. "Kushina, take this girl back. We'll handle the others." The redhead nodded and took Isaribi back to their room while the other two disappeared.

* * *

><p>When Tsunade, Ayame, and Kushina left the hotel room thru the back door, Shino, Ino, and Tenten immediately took cover, fearful they had somehow been found. At the same time they tried to follow the kunoichi trio in case they had something else on their minds.<p>

"Why would someone in their own group try to sneak away?" Tenten whispered.

"From what I gathered, she's connected to some guy here that did something to her and her life is basically in his hands. She was probably trying to get back to him, and they all were suspicious of that." Ino offered.

"Quiet. They're still out here." Shino warned.

"Where did they go?" Ino asked, not seeing them or sensing them.

Shino surprised them by walking out into the open. "I take it you felt our presence." He said to no one.

Tsunade and Ayame appeared before him. "Yes. Kudos on finding us, but why did you do that?" Tsunade asked.

"We were requested by Hiashi Hyuuga to find the whereabouts of his missing daughter." Shino answered, then turned around. "You might as well come out."

Ino and Tenten emerged from the bush they had been hiding in. "Why did you give us away like that?" Ino asked, more than slightly irritated.

"It was illogical to continue hiding and make ourselves look like a threat when they showed they were aware of our presence." The Aburame answered.

"Wise choice." Ayame said. "So now that you found us, what do you intend to do about it?"

"Nothing in our objections says we're required to bring Hinata back with us. Hiashi-sama merely requested that we and I quote, 'track her down and find out where she is.' He never said a word about bringing her back to Konoha. As long as she is out of harms way and here of her own free will, I see no reason to force her to stop what she's doing."

Tenten and Ino were quite surprised. "What? We came all this way, and you're _not_ interested in bringing her back home?"

"Did I ever say I was?" He asked back.

"You never say anything!" Ino all but shouted.

"Rest assured you three, Hinata is perfectly fine and here of her own free will. In fact she requested to be taken with us, and was requesting by another with us too. She is in fact safer here away from Konoha than in it." Tsunade told them before it got worse and other guests got upset at the noise.

"Can we see her for ourselves Tsunade-sama? Just to verify your claim." Tenten asked.

"In the morning. But first," she then gave a hard look to Ino. "How much did you overhear Yamanaka-san?"

"What makes you think that?" Ino asked.

"We know you used your clan jutsu to listen in on us in the room. When we ordered dinner, the youngest member of our group went into the restroom and came out unable to remember anything after a certain point." Tsunade explained, remembering how Moegi calmly went into the bathroom and came out confused as hell.

"Classic signs of a Yamanaka possession." Ayame added.

"We know when you left your host, so tell us when you started listening in and how much you heard. A lot of what you heard is on a need-to-know basis and frankly you do not need to know." Tsunade finished.

Ino was nervous, but decided not to play dumb anymore since she had been caught. "What the heck was going on in that room anyway? That woman calling herself Naruto's mother, talking about demons and changes and other countries? What's going on?"

"Stop asking questions." Tsunade told her sternly, shutting her up effectively. "You three better come with us for the time being. You are not prisoners, but neither will we let you out of our sights until we determine how much of a threat you are to our plans."

"Yes Hokage-sama." The three genin said.


	12. Chapter 12

_Recommended Story: 'Father to a Blond Hyuuga' by Dreaded Rasengan_

Chapter Twelve

Amachi was in his lab on his own private island looking at a computer screen telling him a mile's worth of data lines comprehensible only to him, when he heard the door to his lab open. Turning around, the balding scientist saw Isaribi walk in. "About time you showed up. Where were you last night?"

"I was observing potential new subjects for you, as well as recuperating from some injuries I acquired." The bandaged girl answered.

"Did you bring them to me?" Amachi asked.

"I was not able to. These ones were too smart to catch off-guard."

"Looks like you're slipping Isaribi."

The diver frowned. "It's like fishing. Sometimes you reel them in, sometimes they get away from you. Doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. Especially since people are harder to catch than fish."

"Well you better not lose your touch girl. I need my test subjects to complete my work, and you know what that means for you."

Isaribi looked conflicted. "Excuse me Amachi-sama, but when I was cleaning myself a while ago, I noticed something unusual." She saw she had his attention. "The redding around my scales, I always thought that was just irritation, but last night I wondered if it was actually the markings of a skin graft. Is my transformation a mere unexpected side effect, or something you deliberately caused?"

"What makes you think that? You know what I told you." Amachi replied.

"Yes, but when I think about it, it doesn't match the evidence." Isaribi said, but stopped when the long-nosed doctor stood up looking offended.

"You dare question me girl? I'm the only reason you're even alive right now. Most people would have left you to suffer or bled your wallet dry after treating you. I only asked one thing and now you're having a crisis of conscience and daring to question what I do? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cast you out right now and make you spend the rest of your life alone and bandaged up like a mummy?"

Isaribi lightly frowned. "You wouldn't. I know too much. You'll kill me before you'll risk me telling anyone about you."

Amachi smirked victoriously. "How right you are. Like it or not girl, your life is completely in my hands and so is your chance of regaining your humanity. So do as you're told and bring me some test subjects if you don't want to remain a fish-face forever." He waited for the purple-haired girl to move, but she did not. "I said go."

"You're making one big mistake Doc."

"Oh, and what's that?"

Isaribi was immediately covered with smoke, and Ayame appeared in her place. "You obviously weren't too prepared for the chance that the real Isaribi would already tell someone else about you."

'A henge? She found ninja here?' Amachi asked himself, worried he was in trouble. Amachi was not much of a fighter, so he backed up and immediately hit an emergency silent alarm. In no time, his assigned guards from his benefactor would be here to take down this kunoichi.

Ayame saw this action and smirked. "Oh, don't think you're getting out of this that easily. I never said I came here alone."

"It doesn't matter. This place isn't defenseless and neither am I." Amachi declared.

"Then why are you so nervous?" Ayame asked, her favorite dagger in hand to intimidate him.

Amachi glared and made his hand hover above a large dark blue button. "I'd rather not use this indoors, but you leave me little choice."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the lab, the others had split into two groups. Kushina, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Isaribi went to the left wing while Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata, Shino, and Tenten went to the right wing. Moegi and Tonton remained at the hotel watched over by Naruto's clones. The young girl didn't like it, but she had nothing to contribute so she had to sit this one out. Isaribi at least knew the layout of the building.<p>

In the left wing, the primary research area, Isaribi was leading them to where Amachi kept most of his equipment and notes. This was also the same place she was treated, but she was expected to provide her own lodgings, usually in a lean-to by the shore on the main part of Sea Country. And because of her appearance and anti-social behavior, it usually wasn't in the best condition thanks to bullies and vandals picking on an easy target.

'What if this is wrong? What if they're ruining my only chance to be normal again?' Isaribi asked herself, feeling a pang of guilt and uncertainty. "It's here, this is where Amachi-sama keeps most of his stuff." She told the others when they stopped in front of a closed door.

"Open the door to guarantee there are no traps." Kushina told her.

"You think I'd lead you to a set-up?" Isaribi asked.

"You did say you intended to trick us into coming here so we could be used by this guy. For all I know you still are. Now open the door and prove me wrong." Kushina demanded.

The bandaged girl opened it and safely walked inside, showing there were no traps here. With caution, the rest went inside, and saw a laboratory filled with computers, water-filled tanks and tubes, surgical tables, and various equipment to experiment with. It was like something right out of a movie. Onlt thing missing was a tormented scream in the background.

"Was this where you were treated?" Sakura asked. Isaribi nodded. "What all was done to you?"

"I was unconscious for most of it, but when I woke up my skin was scaly."

"Get away from the door girl." Kushina ordered.

"What?"

"I'm not stupid. You said this guy orders you to abduct people and bring them here for him to experiment on. For all basic purposes, you have done just that to us. I knew that going in. So until you proven otherwise, you are still a threat to us and I will not let my guard down around you." Kushina told her sternly.

Isaribi nodded and walked away from the door. "In that case, what do I have to do to earn your trust?"

Kushina opened her arms to indicate the machines behind her. "Start destroying everything."

The bandaged girl paled. "But... but if all of Amachi-sama's work is destroyed-"

"We can still cure you. He is not your only option." The redhead told her.

"Maybe, but according to you my only choices are him or you, and you did say your way would rid me of what humanity I have left. So forgive me if I'm not exactly eager to pick sides right way."

"Why don't we look thru the notes and research first, like we planned, and see if this guy even can do anything about it?" Sakura asked, trying to be the voice of reason.

Kushina smiled. "Good idea. Let's not pressure the young girl further and simply see what this doctor is really doing here."

With that everyone started looking thru Amachi's data, hoping to find anything they could use or understand.

* * *

><p>In the right wing, the living quarters and docking area, Tsunade and the others were checking for any potential threats that needed to be intercepted. If this place had anything valuable in it, or was a secret site for human experimentation, then surely it was not unguarded, even if it was an ordinary lab. Scientists tended to be notoriously protective of their findings, dreading the chance a fellow researcher would steal their work and take the credit for it.<p>

"My insects have just informed me that a silent alarm was triggered." Shino told them all.

"Crap, there goes our element of surprise. Okay team, be on extra alert. We're likely to be ambushed now." Tsunade said and everyone nodded.

"Byakugan." Hinata whispered, activating her doujutsu. "There are two men trying to sneak up on us, one from the front and one behind us. Neither are armed, but they both look like they're prepared for a fight. They look alike, but one's more muscular and wearing dark glasses like Shino while the other's just wearing normal glasses."

"Good, so now they lost their own element of surprise and their vision is vulnerable." Tsunade whispered in response. "Shizune, you and me will take the one behind us. Hinata, Tenten, you two take the one in front. Shino, use your insects to cover us both. The one in front is likely to be a distraction so the one behind can attack us." Everyone nodded and got into position.

Hinata got into her juuken stance and Tenten pulled out some of her unsealed kunai and trench knives, keeping her scrolls within immediate reach. Hinata's eyes told her the target was confidently yet quietly getting closer, looking unafraid but rather pleased to be able to fight. Shino had their backs, in case they needed his assistance first, but he was diverting his attention to the sannin and her student who hoped to overpower the supposed sneak attack.

* * *

><p>"Kushina-sama, I think I found something." Sakura said as she stared at a computer screen, attracting all ears to her.<p>

"Yes?" The aforementioned redhead responded.

She clicked on the file and a video popped up into view. The video showed an unconscious Isaribi strapped to a table with an IV hooked up to her. Coming into view was a man dressed as a doctor.

"Who's that?" Ino asked.

"Amachi-sama, the man who treated me." Isaribi answered.

"This is day seven of my work on this fortunate find of mine." Amachi said, clearly if documenting his progress. "Results are not coming as soon as I hoped, but I strongly suspect the fact that she has the chakra system of a civilian is to blame for this. Since Orochimaru-sama will not provide me with ninja subjects anymore I must take what I can get."

"This guy works for Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, horrified.

"Fortunately, after much trial and error from the past subjects, I have high hopes that the many tests done on this subject will have a accumulated effect after a few more. Making the change from human to sea monster may work best gradually rather than instantly. I suspect only one, two at the most, further treatments will be needed to give the girl the ability to become my underwater weapon."

All eyes were on Isaribi for a moment, looking at her with shock, making her feel uncomfortable and singled out. Amachi's voice after a cut-away redrew their attention to the screen.

"Day nine, and results are mixed. As expected, the gradual process was the correct procedure and I have succeeded in transforming the girl into an aquatic creature that will help me in dominating the local area and allow Orochimaru-sama to have alternative weapons too. For simplicity's sake I have dubbed this aquatic form as 'Kaima'."

The screen showed Isaribi being injected with something and her body quickly transforms into a humanoid fish being that could have come straight from a low budget rip-off of The Creature From the Black Lagoon. The change lasted only a dozen seconds and then she reverted back to normal.

"Do you really do that?" Ino asked, but Amachi continued before Isaribi could answer.

"Unfortunately there is a downside to the current result. While the kaima body shows signs of a complete transformation, internal as well as external, it does not hold for long. Maybe the body rejects the unnatural metamorphosis like an improper donated organ, or the subject's limited chakra compacity cannot support it for long. I will have to find a way to make her chakra coils expand more, but I suspect there is a way to trick the body into thinking the change is normal. Maybe appropriate skin grafts will make the transformation last longer and be easier to accomplish in a real-life scenario."

The screen went blank after that, saying it continued on a separate file, and now Isaribi looked shocked. "It... it wasn't an accident? He _wanted_ me to become this... this thing?"

"In that case I think it's safe to say you've got little luck putting your faith in this guy." Kushina told her.

"Can we save her?" Sakura asked.

"If she doesn't want to try my way, Tsunade could possibly come up with a way to reverse what was done to her if we find a complete list of what was used. However, that's only in theory. I can't promise anything yet." Kushina answered.

"We should go get her then." Naruto said.

Kushina nodded, but looked briefly alerted by a radio receiver on her ear. "What is it?" She listened to the transmission. "Gotcha. We'll be there shortly."

"What's wrong?" Naruto and Sakura asked.

"Ayame needs our help. We'll have to get back to this afterwards."

* * *

><p>As expected, the one Hinata and Tenten were prepared for appeared first, jumping out of the shadows like a jungle cat upon a helpless deer. However, these kunoichi were hardly helpless.<p>

"He's unarmed so be prepared for a jutsu or taijutsu move." Hinata whispered to the weapon thrower.

The man in question, who was in truth Akado Yoroi one of Orochimaru's weaker henchmen, rushed into view, his right arm stretched out as if to grab them. Hinata's byakugan told her that he had some of his chakra gathered in his palm, meaning it would be bad in he touched either of them. So she stepped aside, but Tenten's reflexes made her throw a kunai and pierce his outstretched palm.

Akado screamed and stopped, clutching his wounded hand. This gave Hinata the opportunity to sneak in and hit his tenketsu as fast as she could. It only took half a minute, but it was thirty seconds this guy couldn't defend himself during, and he collapsed when it was over. Hinata then deactivated her doujutsu.

"Just to be safe..." Tenten said before taking her used kunai back, allowing his hand to bleed, and stabbing his feet with it too in the unprotected parts. "There, now he'll have a hard time catching up after we leave."

After the first guy screamed the second guy, Misumi Tsurugi, decided to jump in, but Tsunade was ready for him and fired a punch right at his face. His nose could be heard breaking and he went flying back, leaving a crater on the wall he collided with.

"Is it just me or were they rather feeble?" Shizune asked.

"I suspect they would have been worse had I not sent my insects after them before they attacked." Shino said.

"Even so, they either weren't trained to be fighters, or don't take their training seriously. Otherwise this shouldn't be so easy." Shizune added.

Tsunade shrugged. "An easy win is still a win."

"What should we-?" Hinata asked, but was cut off when she felt a hand grab her leg. "Let go!" She shrieked as she looked down, seeing Akado was the one holding her. She struggled to kick free, but she couldn't move well since this henchman was draining her chakra thru his hand. 'Wait, this is exactly like that guy in the chuunin exams. Could he be the same person?'

Reacting quickly, Tenten pulled out another kunai and drove it into the man's neck, making him lose his grip and allowing Hinata to get out of his range. He made a last-ditch effort to grab onto Tenten and succeeded in grabbing her arm, but a kick to drive the kunai deeper into his neck made him stop doing anything further.

"You two okay?" Tsunade asked.

"I feel a little more tired than I was before, but not so much I'm going to stop." Tenten answered.

"Same here." Hinata added.

"Good. Let's check this other guy out too for any hidden surprises."

Tsunade cautiously approached Misumi. 'Judging by the way his limbs are angled, he took one hell of a hit. He shouldn't be able to stand up or lift an arm.' "He's no threat." She told the others.

"Oh I'm not am I?" The downed guy said, surprising them all. With his arms still dislocated Misumi reached into his supply pouch and pulled out a small hand-held trigger. "Take this!"

Panels in the walls opened up and before anyone could move thick panes of glass zipped out trapping the group in a caged-off section. Within the area extra smaller panels opened near the top of the hallway walls and seawater started to pour in like a faucet, a vent on the ceiling allowing air to escape. Judging from the speed of the water, they had less than a minute until all the air was gone.

'Too easy.' Tsunade said, rearing her fist. She struck the glass, but instead of shattering, it simply wobbled in place and her hand hurt like hell.

Misumi smiled. 'Nice try, but that's not glass. That's diamond, provided by Orochimsaru-sama's top kunoichi Guren. Cheaper than replacing all the glass Amachi-sama would break here.'

Amachi's work required him to experiment on all forms of dangerous sea life, often making them more aggressive and dangerous than they already were, often resulting in destroyed aquariums. So to make it easier Orochimaru had Guren create clear crystal containers and walls that would contain even Jaws on steroids. Even Tsunade's punch wasn't going to break this wall that easily.

Misumi smirked and used his chakra to get his dislocated joints back into place and reshape his nose. He couldn't see how Akado was doing, but he had no love for the guy even as teammates. He was just pleased to see people start to drown.

"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune nervously asked.

"I'll try again." The slug sannin said, getting ready to use her uninjured fist with more force behind it.

* * *

><p>Ayame was breathing heavily. 'This guy sure came prepared.' The room they were in hadn't really been rigged with traps, but it did feature a trapdoor that would have dropped her into a shark tank. Ayame dodged that one by jumping to the ceiling and clinging to it. Even so, that shark actually wasn't the worst thing he had used. 'What the hell was that thing? It looked like some sort of... living water blob.'<p>

Unfortunately, Amachi used that time to escape via a back door, and the so-called 'living water blob' followed him after she used a paper bomb to hurt it. She dropped down to the floor, trap door closed, after sending a distress signal out to the others over a radio. 'I'm tempted to go after him, but I really should wait for the others to get here first.'

She didn't have to wait long. "What's the situation?" Kushina asked as she appeared, looking ready to fight.

"The doctor's not a fighter but he's not completely unprepared either. Right now he's probably trying to set up another defense for this place. And he's got the most unusual summons I've ever seen. I don't even know what to call it."

"We can't let him get away. According to what we found, he's working for Orochimaru." Naruto told the ramen chef.

"Orochimaru? That worm?" Ayame confirmed.

Naruto nodded. "I think he's helping the snake bastard find ways to change people into monsters and Isaribi here is an innocent victim caught in the crossfire."

"We better go get him." Kushina said. "Naruto, Ayame, you two come with me. Sakura, Ino, be our back-up and keep Isaribi from being taken away or something."

Everyone nodded, but when Naruto, Ayame, and Kushina left the room to get outside, Sakura looked a bit forlorn. 'Once again the only thing I'm good for is support. After this, I'm going to ask Kushina-sama and Tsunade-sama if they can help me get stronger. Even Ayame-sempai could help me out. I want to fight _with_ Naruto, not behind him.'

"Something wrong Forehead?" Ino asked, sensing her friend's unease.

"No, nothing at all Ino." Sakura shook her head.

"You like that boy, don't you?" Isaribi asked, believing Sakura's discomfort was worry for Naruto getting in danger.

"What?" Ino said, surprised.

Sakura sighed. "It's complicated. Yes I'm afraid for him, but I know he'll handle this. After all, Naruto's going to be hokage someday. He can't die, not today."

Ino was wide-eyed hearing this. "Sakura, did something happen between you and-?"

"Not now Ino. Maybe after this is all over, but now now." The pinkette told the platinum blonde, effectively ending the conversation.

"Who is this boy?" Isaribi curiously asked.

Sakura turned to her. "He's Naruto Uzumaki, the most unpredictable ninja in the world. And quite possibly one of the strongest and nicest you'll ever meet. He's strong enough to win where it really counts, and kind enough to not make everyone his enemy, even if they make him theirs. If there's one person you can count on to help you, it's him."

Isaribi was awed while Ino was confused. 'Yep, something definitely happened. Now I've got to know.'


	13. Chapter 13

_Recommended Story: 'A Little Help From a Blonde' by hinatasgreatestfan, for those of you who also like my other story 'Walk a Mile'_

Chapter Thirteen

"If anyone can get us out of here don't keep us waiting!" Tsunade told everyone in the almost full water trap.

Hinata had her byakugan on. "I don't see a weak point to strike at."

Before more could be said, the panels suddenly reverted back into the walls and the water spilled out.

Misami stood there wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "What? But how?"

Shino addressed his group as they stepped away from the once-confined area. "I send some insects into the walls where the panels came out. I suspected they could short-circuit the mechanisms involved. I'm glad to see I was right and they could do it so fast."

"Thanks Shino. Be on alert for more traps."

Misumi was now a bit worried, but he was one of those 'Never say die' kind of fighters. To him if he was going down he was going to make sure to take a few with him. And if his partner Yoroi recovered quickly, maybe they could accomplish more.

Before Yoroi could even stand up, Tsunade rushed forward at Misumi, chakra-enhanced punch at max power. And with Misumi's fighting style based on him being close to his enemy to attack them, he wasn't a good dodger and took the hit dead on. His ribs shattered and cut into his organs. Death would come slow for him as blood filled his lungs and drained from his heart.

At the same time, Shizune got out some of her poisoned weapons and attacked Yoroi while he was still incapacitated. The wounds he got weren't great, but the toxins would compensate for that. "Let's get out before something else happens."

No one argued. Unfortunately though, a steel door came down from the direction they came from, blocking their retreat.

Tsunade looked it over. "Reinforced steel with reinforced locks. Whoever designed this place obviously wasn't a tightwad. We're going to have to find a different way." She would risk battering it down herself, but her fist still hurt from shattering the diamond-reinforced glass earlier.

* * *

><p>"Where is he?" Naruto asked when he was outside. Kushina and Ayame were helping him look over the area as Sakura, Ino, and Isaribi came out to join them.<p>

"Not sure. He could be anywhere, but he's bound to be close and where he can see us." Ayame replied.

"I'll get a better viewpoint." Kushina said before reaching for her back. Naruto and Ayame now could see that hidden by her hair had been two cuts in the back of her blouse that had been buttoned up. She unbuttoned them and quickly a set of demonic wings emerged from her backside. At the same time a long demonic tail emerged from above her ass.

Not bothering to say a word, she flapped her wings and took off into the air, circling around the base to find their target. All she saw was the island instead and the sea around it, nothing out of the ordinary and no people either. 'Damn, he's hiding. Luckily there are only so many places he can hide without actually leaving the island.'

All of a sudden there was a burst of water aimed at her from the sea. But this didn't look like an ordinary water jutsu, no it felt like something else entirely.

"What the hell was that?" Ino said, pointing towards where the water came from.

A second attack came, and this time everyone got a good look at it. If it was a water jutsu, it was different than any other they'd seen. Most water jutsu attacks look like a small geyser; this looked more like a tendril made of water kept in a uniform texture and color. Not only that it looked like it was moving as if alive, not jutsu-controlled.

Kushina saw it was trying to grab her, like some sort of octopus made out of water. 'He's got to be close by, maybe even under the water. I should try a-' She was cut off by a second tendril she didn't see behind her come up and wrap around her.

"OKAA-SAN!" Naruto screamed at seeing his mother engulfed in water much like when Zabuza first fought Kakashi.

"What's going on here?" Sakura asked Isaribi, hoping the girl knew.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before."

The problem got worse. From the water arose a gigantic being made completely of sea water. It looked like some sort of monstrous amoeba that was capable of standing up. Inside it there was something small and green, but from where they were they couldn't see what it was. But they could see that Kushina couldn't break free of its hold.

'Damn, I can't use any incantations underwater, or I'll drown.' She told herself, resorting to struggling against the water to reach some air.

"I've got to help her." Naruto stated.

"How?" Sakura and Ino asked.

He rolled up his sleeves. "I'll bring us a little help." He then jumped onto the water and flashed thru four hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!"

At his feet appeared Gamakichi. "Hey Naruto. What's up?" He friendly greeted.

Naruto suppressed a groan. "Sorry Kichi, I need your father instead."

The orange toad then took notice of what he was standing on. "Wait a minute, is this salt water?"

"We're at sea. What's the problem, You toads can swim right?" The whiskered boy asked as his primary toad partner jumped onto his shoulders.

"Yeah but we're fresh water animals. This stuff drives our skin crazy. My feet are already getting itchy. Pops would be pretty ticked if you tried to get him to do something here."

"Kichi, look over there and tell me how I'm supposed to get rid of that thing without him?" Naruto said, pointing to the water blob.

As Gamakichi took in the sight of the umibozu, Ayame, Sakura, Ino, and Isaribi jumped down beside Naruto. Ayame, Sakura, and Ino could stand on the water but Isaribi could not, thus she just bobbed in the water. "Naruto, where'd that frog come from and why is it wearing a vest?" Sakura asked, a bit disturbed at the sight of the amphibian. She had never been a fan of amphibians, reptiles, or basically any animal except for birds or mammals.

Gamakichi looked right at the pinkette. "I'm a toad, not a frog."

Sakura paled for a moment. "It can talk?" Ino looked almost as surprised. Ayame wasn't surprised, no stranger to summons even though she had none of her own.

"Everyone, can we please focus on this and not him?" Naruto asked firmly. "Kichi, I'm sorry if your old man doesn't like it, but he's the best idea I have."

"Naruto-san, let me try something first." Isaribi asked. When everyone turned her way, she saw her remove her bandages, revealing her scales. "I'm sorry I got you all involved in this. Let me try to get you out of it." She then closed her eyes and in a matter of seconds her entire body transformed into a human-fish hybrid. Suddenly Gamakichi didn't look so weird to the girls.

Isaribi dived underwater, grateful to her gills and new body for once. She swam effortlessly and made it right under the umibozu. With a small amount of hesitation, she swam up and found it quite easy to get inside the water creature. 'Well, it is made of water after all.' She told herself.

"I think we need reinforcements for something like this. Naruto, try to keep it busy with some clones. I'll go try to get the others and bring them here if they're not busy with something else." Ayame told her pseudo-brother who nodded.

When the ramen chef/kunoichi disappeared back into the lab, Naruto created a lot of clones to distracting the umibozu by attacking it from the outside so it couldn't do anything to her. Thus allowing her to swim thru it's body and try to reach Kushina to free her. Easy, right?

Wrong.

Something else was inside the water creature too, and it lunged right at her. Isaribi, well used to being aware of her surroundings underwater and reacting appropriately, dodged her ambusher with ease. When she turned to see exactly what it was, she gasped, something that feels quite strange to do underwater.

What she saw was a second kaima, this one clearly male and looking a bit more dangerous than she did. The fins on its head and pure yellow eyes certainly gave it a bit of an intimidation factor. 'What the...? Where...? When did Amachi make another kaima? He couldn't have... unless...'

"Hello Isaribi, your services will no longer be required." The kaima said, and even with the voice muddled by water, she heard it clearly and could tell exactly who owned that voice.

"Amachi? You do this to yourself?"

"Of course. I knew you wouldn't be reliable for much longer, but you gave me enough to create the perfect ocean soldier, me. Now I will rule the seas."

'So this entire time he never intended to help me return to normal, only help him become this creature. He's been using me as a lab rat and errand-girl for _this_ twisted ambition? Robbing me of my humanity with empty promises to return it if I do his dirty work?' Isaribi told herself, getting angry.

Amachi decided to lunge at her again like a shark. Isaribi however had the advantage of more experience at this and was now in the mood to fight. She dove forward but angled her thrust to dodge then turn to bite him on his dorsal fin, ripping the appendage clean off.

Outside the umibozu, two of Naruto's clones ran up the side of the water construct and reached the captured Kushina, who was starting to run out of breath. The two had already formed a rasengan and thrust it into the water, creating a gap large enough to allow Kushina to get some air back into her lungs.

"Thanks son." She said as she clawed her way out. With her being wet and out of breath, she would have a hard time getting airborne right away. So instead of trying, she just jumped out and used her wings to slow her descend back down to beside the girls who watched Naruto try and attack the liquid golem. "Why are you two helping?"

"What can we do against that?" Ino asked. "None of my techniques will do anything here."

"And I've got nothing special other than a good hit, which is worthless against water." Sakura added.

Kushina gave them strong looks, not the kind that made them cower but the kind that told the girls to listen and listen good. "And I can't use chakra anymore and I'm not that good at mana either except for some basics. But as long as I can move, breathe, and hit, I'm not going to settle for being part of the audience. Will you?" Flapping her wings a bit, she got some excess water off her and took back to the air. Once there, she conjured up a gold chain and fired it into the umibozu, trying to ensnare Amachi but she missed.

Sakura was amazed to see everyone fighting despite the overwhelming odds, and she was trying to build up her courage. 'Dammit Sakura, how long ago did you swear not to let Naruto do all the hard work? And here you are wanting to retreat. If you've got any guts at all, prove it and do something for crying out loud.'

With that, Sakura ran forward, fists balled and ready to hit something. Most of the clones gave her a break to give her a chance to do something. Screaming a battlecry, she ran up the umibozu and dove right in to help Isaribi after inhaling a deep breath.

'What the hell is she doing?' Ino asked herself before instinct took over and she ran to provide some form of support. Naruto joined her right away, Gamakichi gone since he saw nothing he could be good for. But as they climbed, the umibozu created a new tendril right under their feet that swept them away and threw them right towards the stone cliffside of the island. Ino screamed, but Naruto grabbed her and created a cluster of shadow clones around himself to cushion the impact.

It worked, and they got to the ground harmlessly. "You okay Ino?" He asked.

Ino nodded and smiled. "Yes, thank you Naruto." She then blushed when she realized he was holding her in his arms bridal style and she was holding onto him. "Uh you can put me down now." Now he realized the position they were in, and carefully lowered her. "What do we do now?"

"I've got no choice but to try this." Naruto said before gathering as much chakra as he could, even dipping into the Kyuubi's reserves, to perform one jutsu. Ino could feel the chakra emitting off it and could tell right away this was way more than she ever thought possible.

'How is he doing this?'

Naruto felt his body burning up, which was normal when using Kyuubi's chakra as if often raised his body temperature, but this time was different. His body radiated orange chakra instead of red, but he didn't notice it as he completed his jutsu. "Summoning Jutsu!"

* * *

><p>Tsunade's group had been going down a maze for several minutes, finding room after room but not way outside the lab. Nothing significant about the rooms, just a few things like washrooms and kitchens, basic commodities to make being on the island easier. A few more guards had attacked, but they were civilian level at best, probably only good at defending the place as a group.<p>

Eventually they reached a dead end.

"Damn!" Tsunade yelled, hitting the wall with her hand in an angry show of futility.

"Are we trapped?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, like mice." A voice said from behind them. They all turned to see Yoroi wobble towards them. "Whatever you injected into me didn't work as well as you hoped."

In a rare display of bravery, Hinata stepped forward ready to juuken him into unconsciousness. "You're outnumbered. Why should we fear you?"

Yoroi pulled out a large number of bomb kunais, enough to kill them all before they even realized they were dead. He applied chakra to one, and then he jerked as if hit by something and fell face forward.

"What the...?" Tenten asked, but if the confusion had enough sense to grab the explosive tag and cut the tag before it detonated, making it useless.

Hinata, having already seen the attack coming with her eyes, already knew what caused it. "Thanks Ayame-san."

"No problem." The older kunoichi said as she came forward. She had apparently struck Yoroi in his neck with a kunai, a near instant death if not instant. "We need you on the outside."

"We're having a hard time finding our way out." Shizune told her.

"Have you tried the windows?" Ayame asked, referencing how she even got in this part of the sealed lab in the first place.

Everyone was stunned silent, then groaned at their mistake. Tsunade even palmed her face. 'Oh course, the rooms have windows and they probably aren't sealed if she could get in.'

Not wanting to think about this any longer, Ayame showed them the way out.

* * *

><p>Back at the umibozu, Amachi was gaining the upper hand in his fight. He designed his kaima form to be stronger and faster than Isaribi's ever could be. Her advantages were more experience in this form and she had greater agility, meaning she was harder to hit. Amachi was wounded but he had managed to clip her left side with his claws too.<p>

Sakura wasn't much of a fighter, but she was analytical. Seeing one possible way she could help out, she gathered chakra in her palms, hoping to gather as much as she could. It wasn't much, given her small reserves, but she knew when to stop. Once she had enough, she thrust her hands together like a clap. The result was as predicted, a sonic burst underwater that went right to the male kaima. The recoil fromt he blast make her go flying backwards and out of the umibozu, and she was high enough that landing on water without chakra to cushion the fall would kill her.

Kushina dove down and caught her. "Attagirl, good thing you tried something. And nice idea too, quite unexpected. You might have made a good succubus." She then placed the girl on the beach by Ino.

"I can do more." Sakura insisted. "I have to help Naruto. I can't be dead weight to him anymore."

Meanwhile, Naruto was atop a grumpy Gamabunta who was attacking the umibozu, trying not to hurt the kaima inside.

"You aren't, but you look tired. Stay still and I can help you." Kushina told her. Sakura quickly nodded, feeling her chakra was low. Kushina placed her palm on the girls forehead. "Tuumuthoxu."

Right away Sakura felt like she was struck with a tingle, bathing in hot water after being out in the rain, and woke up from a long nap, all at once. She was like all the fatigue she had been feeling suddenly never existed. She even felt like she was about to burst, but in a good way. Unknown to her, she was lightly glowing orange too.

When the glow faded, Sakura looked over herself and flexed her arms. "Wow, I feel great. What did you do?"

"Just refilled your chakra system, maybe expanded it a bit too, but I can only do this once for you. Too much will cause severe damage to your body. Now, if you want to help my son, now's the perfect chance."

Sakura nodded. "But how?"

"I have an idea, but I need your help. Both of you."

Meanwhile, Naruto and Gamabunta were arguing over tactics. The boss toad couldn't grip the umibozu and his sword was useless since Naruto didn't want him to risk hitting Isaribi, and Naruto didn't know any fire jutsu for a toad flare bomb attack to dry the umibozu out, which would also endanger Isariib. Not to mention the salt water was driving the toad angry. If something didn't change soon Gamabunta was bound to either leave or fight his way whether or not Naruto liked it.

At the same time, Kushina flew up while carrying Sakura and Ino, both girls surprised she could do this. Ino had a sort of cloth mask wrapped around her face, obscuring her nose and mouth. They reached right above the umibozu. "You ready?" Both nodded. Kushina then created a gold chain that wrapped around their midsections then she dropped them right into the umibozu.

Inside the water blob, Ino did her family signature hand sign. 'Mind Transfer Jutsu.' She then sent her jutsu at Amachi, and took control of him. At the same time Sakura reached out for Isaribi who took her hand. Knowing they had little time before Ino's unconscious body inhaled water and drowned, Kushina pulled them out as quick as she sent them down, allowing the girls to get out of harms way while Ino ensured Amachi stayed there.

"Now Naruto! Attack this thing!" Kushina shouted, bringing her passengers to land.

Naruto nodded. "Bunta, try your bomb now. I can add the fire after all." The giant toad spat out some oil on the umibozu and Naruto threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached and lit. The result was as expected. The umibozu was covered in flame that its watery body couldn't put out faster than the sheer heat was drying it up. And with Amachi inside as a kaima, he was as vulnerable as a lobster in a pot of hot water. Ino ejected her spirit as soon as the oil hit the water creature, and started coughing up what water did get in her body's mouth.

"Not bad kid. Now if that's all, I'm out of here." Gamabunta said before disappearing, leaving Naruto to fall into the ocean.

Ayame now brought Tsunade and her group out, and they went to Kushina and the girls on the beach. They were quite surprised to see Isaribi's kaima form. "What happened out here?"

"I think we got the guy responsible for doing this to her." Kushina answered, pointing to Isaribi. "Tsunade, can you check this girl for possible water in her lungs?" Now pointing to Ino.

Tsunade did an immediate diagnosis jutsu and found there was indeed a small amount of water in Ino's lungs. Not enough to kill her yet, but it could result in pneumonia or dry-drowning later, so she used an extraction method to pull it all out.

"What happened to you guys?" Tenten asked.

"Fought a water creature and a fishman. You?" Sakura told her, still feeling stimulated from Kushina's boost.

"We fought henchmen that almost drowned us, but we got out and killed them. Then we got trapped behind a sealed door and had to find the long way out until Ayame-san here found us and showed us the exit." Shino answered.

"What do we do now?" Hinata asked.

"With all the new commotion in the area, we should get out of here before someone can link us to it." Tsunade told everyone.

"But first..." Kushina added, looking towards Naruto. Everyone followed her eyes and gasped when they saw what she saw.

"What?" Naruto asked before looking at him, trying to see if he had an injury or something. Oh he wasn't hurt, that he could handle. This was worse.

His tail was revealed again, and this time a set of bat-like wings were on display on his back, poking out of rips on his orange jacket.


	14. Chapter 14

_Recommended Story: 'Legends Never Die' by Kyuubi123, sequel to 'Naruto's True Nindo'_

Chapter Fourteen

"We should probably get out of here." Tsunade told everyone. "With that kind of activity, it's only a matter of time before someone comes to investigate and learn we were here."

"Why not come home to Konoha Tsunade-sama?" Tenten asked. "What are you trying to get away from?"

"If you must know, someone's trying to destabilize the entire governing system of Konoha and rewrite it in their favor. And while they're at it, Naruto's life is in extreme danger."

Ino, Tenten, and Shino were all confused. "How so?" Ino asked. "I mean, surely someone wouldn't want to kill him just because he has wings now."

Said wings were why Naruto was hiding from the group, with Shizune looking him over for any problems. The new appendages were making the blonde boy very uncomfortable in the presence of others.

"For the time being it's probably best for you and us if you don't know all the details." Tsunade told them. "But for now, as your hokage I'm going to have to order the three of you to return to Konoha."

Before the others could object, Shino bowed. "Very well Hokage-sama. We have already accomplished the objective of our task and will not bother you anymore."

"Shino you can't be serious." Ino complained. "We're supposed to bring Hinata back to her father."

"I'm not going back. I belong with Naruto-kun and I will not be in Konoha until it's safe for him to return." Hinata defied the blonde mindwalker, looping her arm around Naruto's own as she said this.

"But Konoha needs you there to make things stay stable." Tenten told her idol.

"My plan however requires me not to be there for now." Tsunade countered.

"What plan? What could you possibly-?" Tenten asked, but Shino raised his arm in front of her to stop her fro continuing.

"Hokage-sama said we are not meant to know that now. So for now questioning her is irrelevant. All we need to know is what we were sent to find out."

"While we're on that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to interfere with your assignment." Tsunade told them, worrying them all. "I'm not going to punish you. From what you told me I can't truly fault you or Hiashi for asking you to do this without my approval. However, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask something of the three of you."

"What is it?" Tenten asked.

"If the three of you don't return to Konoha, the clan heads will think something's wrong and plan for the worst, and now it's too soon for them to do too much. But if I let you go, I'm risking word of our activity being leaked to those conspiring against us. So here's what you're going to do: You will go back and tell Hiashi his daughter's safe and that's it, not a single word more. And to ensure you keep quiet, I'm going to insist on one of you remaining with us as leverage."

"What?" Ino asked.

"It's what it sounds like. I can't risk anyone knowing where I am, where I'm going, and who all is with me. So to ensure none of you say more than permitted, I need to have a form of leverage. So, which of you three is the most likely to talk about something like this?"

All eyes immediately went to Ino, who got defensive. "What? Why me? I won't say anything."

"Ino, you're a habitual gossip. Sooner or later you will mention something about this to someone." Sakura told her friend.

"You won't be in danger Ino-san. But if you go back, we will be." Hinata added.

"I promise I won't say anything." Ino repeated.

"You won't because I won't give you the chance to." Tsunade declared. "Don't think you're our prisoner Ino Yamanaka. You're actually part of our key to making Konoha a better place."

"I am?" Ino asked, not seeing how she could be such a thing.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. Not too long ago you managed to sneak in and listen in on our private conversation without any of us noticing. And we were all on guard for alerts like that. Had you been better at covering your tracks we might never have known you were ever there. That shows a great deal of talent from you, and I suspect such talent could greatly be of us for us."

'Not to mention the girl discovered highly confidential information and is a flight risk for letting others find out.' Kushina told herself.

Ino thought it over. 'I still have no idea what's going on here, but if I stay with them I'm bound to find out. Then I can get back to Konoha and let the others know. I doubt Hokage-sama is doing anything wrong, but being away from Konoha when there's disaster can't possibly be right and dammit I want to know what she's thinking.'

With that in mind, she clapped her hands together. "Alright, I'll do it. But at least let me and Hinata give Tenten and Shino something for our parents so they won't worry."

Tsunade nodded. "That's more than fair I suppose."

"I wonder how things are going in Konoha now." Sakura thought out loud.

* * *

><p>In Konoha, things weren't going that well for the clan heads. No missions, in or out of Konoha, were being assigned for all shinobi no work was assigned. Most of the shinobi still trained and did their work within their departments.<p>

Like the T&I department for example, where Ibiki was at work with the now-former head of the Anbu, who was tied to a chair.

"Trying to arrest the hokage huh? And on false charges? Surely you're smarter than this, Akihiko Matsukawa." Ibiki started.

The man in question, Akihiko Matsukawa, was about Kakashi's age and build. He had a haircut much like Gai's, only his was brown and a bit longer in the back, with brown eyes and normal eyebrows. Outside that, he had no distinguishing characteristics, making it easy for him to get around unnoticed. His stealth and ruthlessness helped him work his way high up in the Anbu ranks, and at one point he was practically Kakashi's equal in rank in the department, earning him a position as head of Anbu.

Anbu was not run by any one person, unless you counted the hokage. Actually there were several acting heads, one usually for every two dozen of Anbu to make giving orders and organizing work more efficiently. So this guy was only one of several in charge of the Anbu, he wasn't the one at the top. But he was the one Ibiki had and needed to get info out of.

And the scarred man was more than happy to do his job.

Akihiko was less than pleased and not afraid to show it. "I'm just doing my job, ensuring what's best for Konoha."

"And who are you to decide what's best for Konoha?" Ibiki challenged. "What makes you think you're more qualified to decide that instead of our hokage?"

"I never said I was. I just said I was doing my job." Akihiko repeated.

"Hmm... meaning this wasn't something you decided on your own. Someone ordered you to do this. Who?"

"Can't say. I was paid not to."

"And I'm paid to find out. But you may not want to see which of us is better at our jobs."

Akihiko glowered at the sadist. "The one you should be interrogating is the hokage. She's the real threat to our village. After all, she up and left it long ago and only now came back when it was vulnerable. Who knows what she's been doing out there. And wasn't she a teammate with Orochimaru? For all we know she could be a sleeper agent of his sent here to inform him of the next opportunity to strike. Who better to work as a spy for him then her? The one person no one would suspect?"

"I admit your idea is not completely thoughtless, but it sounds like it's based completely on paranoia and bias rather than evidence or reason."

"She knows the traitor sannin, hasn't been in Konoha for over a decade, and actually likes that demon brat! What more proof do you need?" Akihiko shouted.

Ibiki shook his head in disappointment. "To think someone who's supposed to uphold the law needs to be reminded that you can't convict anyone without evidence or testimony. Pathetic."

"No, what's pathetic is needing a hokage in the first place. The entire role is unnecessary."

Ibiki arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Oh, look who needs to have something explained to him now." Akihiko mocked. "The fact of the matter is that ninja are merely mercenaries who are paid to do what the civilians don't want to do themselves. Why would any ninja want to sit behind a desk all day telling other ninja what jobs to do? Being a hokage is stupid, and so is anyone who actually wants the job. Case in point, the demon brat. We should remove the hokage position entirely, put the civilians in charge, and just be paid to do what they hire us for."

Ibiki took this in and frowned. "Let me see if I got this straight. You want civilians to be in charge of this country's military instead of a fellow ninja?"

"Would we really be any worse off than we already are? For all you know things will get better." Akihiko replied.

"Better? The village would fall apart and chaos would be inevitable. Whether you agree or not is irrelevant, the fact of the matter is a group without a leader cannot get anywhere without falling apart. The hokage is the leader, the alpha, the queen bee, however you wish to describe the role. They are the one who keep the rest of us in line and make sure the shinobi system is upheld. Why do you think five villages have kages if the job is pointless?"

"If it was vital then all the villages would have kages." Akihiko countered firmly.

Ibiki wasn't affected by his words. "They may not be called kages but they perform the exact same role and tasks the true kages do. Every army needs a commander, and we are the army of Hi no Kuni. Konoha is our barracks, not merely a place that provides instant shinobi service."

Akihiko scoffed. "Being a mercenary pays better than being a soldier. That's what we should focus ourselves on."

Ibiki frowned and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll established a motive here, money and bias. Now tell me who paid you to do this."

"Kiss my ass!"

Ibiki smiled evilly. "I love a resister."

* * *

><p>While Ibiki was at work, so were the two sides of Konoha's council. Neither side looked happy to be there, but for differing reasons.<p>

Before anyone spouted off their personal opinions hastily, Shikaku stood up at the head of the table and addressed them all. "Everyone, you have been called here today to uncover a grave injustice done to Hokage-sama, who will not attend this meeting for personal reasons."

"Why address her as Hokage-sama? That bitch is impeached." An irritable civilian named Shusen stated as if it were law.

Shikaku, along with every other shinobi and the two elders Homura and Koharu present, narrowed his eyes at that man. "That is actually why we are here right now. Someone here deliberately ignored Konoha's law for personal reasons and acted out against our leader, and apparently you Shusen-san are part of this conspiracy."

The councilman got nervous now that he realized what he blurted out hadn't already been taken care of. "What do you mean? The current hokage was unfit for her position and needed to be removed for office. As the council we do have the right to do that."

"The council can only remove the hokage from office if both sides vote unanimously. And we weren't even part of the vote." Chouza said, frowning deeply.

"Neither were we." Homura added, he and Koharu looking upset. Danzou looked more neutral, but then again he always looked that way in meetings.

"So any acts done against the hokage would be considered criminal and deserving of punishment." Shibi added.

Shusen suddenly calmed down. "And so what? You can't do anything to us because we've still got that contingency plan set up to take this village down from the inside if any harm comes to us. If we're out of office here no business will be provided to any single ninja until we've reinstated."

The councilor next to him nodded. "If we can't have power no one in Konoha can."

Tsume shook her head. "You think we've been doing nothing about that since you brought that ultimatum up? Wrong-o."

Hiashi nodded. "We've been eliminating the ones who'd follow such orders from you from any positions of influence while ensuring any replacements for their roles would not be swayed by you fools, and building up caches of supplies in preparation for the worst. Go ahead and try to undermine us, we'll return the favor twofold."

The entire civilian council was shocked. "Are you certain such activity was legal?" Koharu asked. "Even if your actions are for a good cause, if you've broken the laws here you all could be in grave trouble."

"Rest assured all mentioned activity was legal." Shibi answered enigmatically.

Inoichi smirked. "You didn't really think we'd let such a threat slide did you? Maybe now you all will realize this is a shinobi village, not a civilian village that just happens to have shinobi in it."

"Now back on topic, whose idea was this act of treason?" Shikaku asked.

One of the civilians, a dark-haired woman wearing a red dress, suddenly stood up and pointed to her right. "It was Shusen-san and Nakamune-san and Saigawara-san."

One of the accused, a balding man almost in his fifties named Nakamune, rose from his seat. "Roppongi-san-"

"No! I am not going to prison for you three! I'm all for having more influence in this town and being done with the Kyuubi child, but I am not going to throw away my freedom for it."

Saigawara, a short-haired brunette woman wearing a green shirt, stood up too. "Don't think we don't have dirt on you too Roppongi-san. If we go down we're taking you with us."

Shikaku quickly got his shadow jutsu on each civilian member before things got physical. "That's enough. For now you all will be held under arrest and confined to the T&I department until we can get to the bottom of this. Those of you found guilty of criminal activity will be punished accordingly."

"May I ask how the civilian issues will be handled in our absence?" Roppongi asked, sounding genuinely concerned rather than using the issue to get out of trouble.

"We will handle that for the time being. For now it is not your concern." Homura told them.

Thanks to Shikaku's Shadow Possession Jutsu the civilians barely struggled when the Anbu were called in to take them to holding cells. They were quite vocal about it, especially the three who paid Akihiko to remove Tsunade from office, but screaming was all they could do on the matter.

Shikaku sighed when the civilians were all taken away and the elders left on their own. "While we're here, does anyone wish to add anything?"

"We seem to have handled the issue with the corrupt civilians earlier than anticipated, so shouldn't we contact Hokage-sama and ask her to return?" Hiashi asked.

Shikaku shook his head. "Negative. The corruption likely goes deeper and we need to be on guard in case any anti-ninja moves are made in Konoha."

"It's true." Inoichi added. "The civilians have been a thorn in our side for decades. They are not going to be thwarted this easily."

The issue with the civilians had been around since the Sandaime's first term in office. Sarutobi was put into office without the proper preparations for it thanks to Tobirama's quick passing. The young Sandaime found the job difficult to do and decided that by giving the councils a little empowerment he would have less of a burden himself. The shinobi council would have the right to make decisions for their own clans as long as no one outside their clan was affected by the decision, and the civilians would decide what city-wide issues required the hokage's immediate attention and what could wait for later or be ignored altogether.

Ideally it would have worked, except that some of the council members got a little carried away with their newfound power of authority and tried to exploit it. It became a tug-of-war with civilian against shinobi, and soon it became an issue of worth. The civilians felt like second-class citizens and claimed they deserved more liberties while the shinobi insisted that Konoha was a shinobi village above anything else and the civilians were trying to undermine their authority.

By the time the Yondaime was put into office the conflict was ordered to cease but the damage was done, and there still remained a rift between civilian and shinobi. The civilians continued to be resentful of the ninja, seeing them as more privileged, richer, and often brutish and overall undeserving of such fortune and status that they, the working class, were denied by comparison. The civilians were not living in poverty, but they were jealous the true wealth of Konoha was in the ninja's possession.

Minato tried to settle the issue by reminding them they were indeed valued. "The village cannot work without the civilians. The ninja must be ready at any moment's notice for work anywhere. If ninja were all we had, none of the city's utilities would work. Power wouldn't be generated, the trash wouldn't be cleaned up, and food and clothes would be scarce. It is you, the civilians, who do what the ninja cannot be here to do, that ensure Konoha works as well as it does. If the ninja are richer, it's only because the economy here is dependent on their work and when you consider how risky their work is, it's a fair salary to be had. Not unlike your own for the work you all do." He once told them all.

This greatly helped the civilians feel better, but in some cases it worked too well. Some of the civilians started acting like they were more important than the shinobi and started disrespecting them openly, resentful because the shinobi were not afraid to risk their lives for money while the civilians were. Their council even tried sneaking money from Konoha's treasury towards more civilian-friendly purposes and even worked to change academy standards saying it would give civilian children a fairer chance at passing. Originally kids could become genin before they even turned ten because they were taught very well, but now almost all kids became genin at twelve because of the new teaching process.

Things obviously didn't get any better when the Sandaime took his second term in office. He saw the problem and the rift, but he felt it was just easier to resort to his old way of managing Konoha with council empowerment. This time however he insisted on having uses of such power being carefully monitored and regulated. This was done for both councils, the shinobi needed to be monitored to ensure they weren't overusing the entire 'clan business only' shield from outside influence and the civilians needed to be monitored to ensure they weren't getting in the way of ninja business.

The addition of Naruto into the mix did nothing to make the tug-of-war any easier. With the attack of the Kyuubi and all the death and destruction from it still fresh in the minds of the civilians, it would have taken a lot more than just the word of a ninja to convince them all that Naruto was harmless.

Apparently the civilians did see a use for Naruto though. He was an outlet for their anger at the Kyuubi, but also for their anger at the ninja in general. Like typical bullies they picked on someone who couldn't fight back in an effort to feel better about themselves, and with some of the ninja siding with them on Naruto's lack of humanity they only felt more validated in their actions. And with the shinobi council and Sandaime trying to keep Naruto safe, they couldn't focus as much as they were supposed to on the civilian council, allowing them to set up their contingency plan in case the shinobi decided to remove them from office.

Shikaku sighed. "Even so, no matter how troublesome it will be, and it _will_ be troublesome of that I have do doubt, it is something we must do. Hokage-sama is doing her part and we must do ours. With Naruto out of the village they've lost their trump card against us, and with Hokage-sama keeping him safe they cannot get anything new approved without raising a lot of red flags. The civilians are already frightened of the reality of the situation and turning against each other. In no time they will collapse and Konoha's governing body can be reformed and refined."

"Yes, but what if something goes array?" Hiashi asked, still worried for his missing daughter.

"We'll have to handle that as it comes." Shikaku answered.

_For those of you that are wondering, Sakura's long delayed explanation will be revealed next chapter._


	15. Chapter 15

_Recommended Story: 'Saimin no Jutsu' by Shywhitefox_

Chapter Fifteen

After Shino and Tenten left, Ino felt even though this group did not intend it, she still felt like their hostage. 'I can't leave, no one will tell me anything, and I don't even have a say in where we go. If I'm not a prisoner, then I'm one confined guest.'

At the moment she was seated at a campfire back on the mainland. The group decided to leave Sea Country now that there had been some recent activity that was bound to attract attention they didn't want to be a part of. Isaribi was with them, and surprisingly she had not been that difficult to convince. Tsunade promised to see if reversing her treatment was possible and if so would do it ASAP.

Right then Ino was surrounded only by Sakura, Hinata, Moegi, Isaribi, and Ayame who was preparing some food for them while Tsunade, Shizune, Kushina, Tayuya, and Naruto were elsewhere, talking over something she'd likely not be privileged to knowing either.

"What's troubling you Ino?" Sakura asked sitting next to her friend. She already had a good idea what the answer was, but knew this was a good way to break the ice.

"What do you think is troubling me? I can't go back home and no one will tell me why we're trying to get away from it in the first place."

"There are people back in Konoha that are trying to kill Naruto-kun." Hinata told her.

"So?" Ino asked, sounding more uncaring than she intended to. "I mean, that can't possibly be the _only_ reason. Right?"

"Ino, doesn't that strike you as the least bit suspicious?" Ayame asked without even taking her eyes off the brewing stew she was making. "I mean, do you think Naruto is _supposed_ to be killed?"

"No, but why would anyone _want_ to kill him?"

"Exactly. Why _would_ anyone want to kill him? Think about that." Ayame replied.

Ino closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could on the subject. 'Okay, obviously something's suspicious here. Let's start from the beginning. Naruto was sent to the hospital after his mission to retrieve Sasuke-kun because according to Sakura Sasuke-kun was trying to kill Naruto and came close to succeeding. Within a day or two some if not all of the Anbu are trying to kill Naruto themselves. Hokage-sama does not like this and decides to take Naruto and several others out of Konoha to protect them.'

Ino shifted in her seat to get more comfortable and her train of thought continued uninterrupted. 'Hokage-sama chose to do this rather than step forward and stop the Anbu. This means that the Anbu were not acting on her orders and are likely to turn on her too just as much as they are Naruto. And with everyone in this group connected to Naruto in some way, people close to him must be at risk too. This of course implies that someone in the shadows wants Naruto out of the picture for some reason and is not afraid to circumvent the Hokage to get what they want. And such a person or group is a high threat to Konoha, but nothing can be done about them because Hokage-sama must have no leads to them and thus wants everyone targeted out of harm's way until she gets something she can use.'

Apparently Ino wasn't the dumb blonde many thought she was. She was Inoichi's daughter after all, just not as dedicated to her job as he was.

Opening her eyes, the platinum blonde looked at the other girls. "Someone's conspiring something nasty in Konoha and Naruto's on his hit-list for some reason, right?"

"Yes." Ayame answered. "And FYI, this isn't new. At least half of Konoha's population have wanted Naruto dead since the second they learned he existed."

"Don't exaggerate like that." Ino told her.

"What makes you think I'm exaggerating?" Ayame asked, narrowing her eyes slightly at the young mindwalker.

"How could so many people hate Naruto so much?" Ino asked, not seeing any reasonable answer. She was aware of his misbehavior when younger, but in all honesty what kid didn't misbehave on occasion? She had been a bit of a troublemaker herself when young.

"Should we tell her the reason?" Moegi asked Ayame.

The ramen chef shook her head. "She has to earn our trust first, and right now I don't trust her enough with that info."

"Well who exactly am I going to tell like this?" Ino argued.

"Doesn't matter. Until we know Naruto can trust you with his secret, we won't let you know it."

"How bad could it possibly be?" Ino asked.

"Trust me Ino, it's major." Sakura told her with complete seriousness. "Until you learn to trust and like Naruto like we do, you're better off not knowing."

Ino semi-glared at the pinkette. "And since when have you trusted or liked Naruto Forehead? I remember you once said that if the baka ever-"

"Don't call him that!" Hinata demanded, raising her voice but not yelling. Either way, it sure surprised Ino. "Don't you dare talk about Naruto-kun like that again. Or so help me I'll rewire your metabolism with my juuken to _make_ you gain weight."

"Can you really do that?" Ino asked, not having enough knowledge of the body or Hyuuga fighting style to know if it was an empty threat or not.

"Would you like to find out?" Hinata asked back, raising her hand with chakra points on her fingers.

Ino gulped and hung her head. "I'm sorry Hinata. I'll try to watch my words from now on." One thing Ino did know was that she had never heard of Hinata threatening anyone before, and if she was doing it now for Naruto's sake, the wise thing was to not provoke her.

Hinata lowered her hand. "That's better."

Ino turned back to her old friend. "But still Sakura, you've never liked Naruto or cared about him before. So why now? You once said if he ever did become hokage you'd become a missing nin; in your words it would be better out here on the run than under his authority. And now you've become a missing nin to _protect_ him? And not only that, back in that lab you said you actually believed Naruto will become hokage someday. What the hell changed? Why him and not Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura just looked blankly at the platinum blonde for a moment, then closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. "You really want to know? Alright, I'll tell you. It's because I was wrong. About Naruto and Sasuke. I was wrong about what kind of people they are."

She saw Ino was confused and decided to clarify things a bit. "I've spent the past few months around them both. Surely you must know I've learned more than just a thing or two about them both. But for now, I'll focus on Sasuke since that's what you want to hear about." Ino slightly perked up a bit now that the subject of interest came up.

"Sasuke is strong, of that there's no doubt, but that's his only good trait. Believe it or not, he's... also shallow, arrogant, and cruel. Cruel enough to attack his own teammates when he feels like it. He tried to kill Naruto on the last mission he was on, and he even tried to kill me in the hospital." Sakura said, getting shocked gasps out of Ino and the other girls.

"Really?" Hinata asked, speaking for the entire audience.

"What kind of person is this guy?" Isaribi asked, the only one among them who had no knowledge of Sasuke Uchiha. Even Ayame and Moegi knew, but mostly from what they learned from Naruto.

"He's my and Naruto's teammate. Most likely former teammate now, but I haven't heard anything made official yet. He was the most popular student in our class and considered the strongest ninja in our age group, and he was part of one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha." Sakura explained, for once not talking like her usual fangirl self on this subject. "For a while most of the girls our age were attracted to him because of this. Hinata was probably the only one among us who was attracted to Naruto instead."

Sakura briefly gave Hinata a sympathetic look before returning her gaze to Isaribi. "At first we all thought she was monumentally stupid to like him. That was part of why even though we knew she liked him, none of us ever helped her approach Naruto. Sure, we would say that she'd do it on her own when she was ready, but in all honesty, the rest of us just didn't care what happened to her or Naruto and saw no reason to do anything for them."

Hinata glared harshly, making Sakura feel about two inches tall right then. "So that's it then? That's why you led Naruto-kun on? You knew he wanted a friend and you knew I wanted him as my friend, and you kept silent simply because it wasn't _your_ problem?"

"I was stupid and selfish Hinata, and for that I cannot be sorry enough. If you want to hit me right now then I'll let you. I deserve no less." Sakura replied with complete humility.

Hinata tightened her fist momentarily but relaxed it right away. "I can't say I'm not tempted Sakura. I mean, you said you wanted Naruto-kun to leave you alone and knew I would have gladly taken his affections, but you did nothing. I don't think apathy is the real reason you did nothing. I think maybe you _wanted_ him to keep chasing you, and that is why I really want to hurt you." She briefly paused, trying to calm down. "However, I can see now something's changed in you, and I will at least hear you out before I do anything physical."

Sakura nodded. "Over the past few weeks, I've started to realize just what it is you see in him. Naruto is warm, trustworthy, and much more talented than I gave him credit for. He actually tries to talk to me and make me feel good, and when I'm hurt he tries to make me feel better. He's... better company than Sasuke ever was."

"I first realized that back in my first real mission to Wave Country. When we had spare time Sasuke barely said anything to me, but Naruto did. On the way back home it was the same, and even thru the chuunin exams it was still the same. Sasuke just didn't want to interact with us if it could be helped. But even though I saw this, I ignored it. I don't know why, maybe I just wasn't ready to consider the possibility Sasuke wasn't Mr. Right."

Sakura then sighed sadly. "Then came the time I couldn't ignore it any longer. This happened when Tsunade-sama came and treated Sasuke. In fact, this might even have happened around the time you and Naruto were talking about your own relationship Hinata."

Hinata didn't look angry anymore, which Sakura took as a good sign. "Go on."

Sakura nodded. "Tsunade-sama left to go check on Lee I think, and Naruto was gone, and I thought Sasuke and I finally had that private time I always dreamed of. Unfortunately, it was a disaster."

-Flashback-

Sakura was sitting by Sasuke's bed watching him rest a bit more. He had already awakened thanks to Tsunade but he wasn't very active. 'I'll be right here when you're back on your feet Sasuke-kun. I hope that now you'll open up a bit more. I do enjoy being on your team, but I'd like it more if you weren't so closed off from me. Never thought I'd say this, but there were times Naruto was better company.'

She had no idea how she sat there, but she did in time see Sasuke open his eyes, making her smile. "Sasuke-kun!"

"You're still here? Dear Kami you've got absolutely no life do you?" He bitterly stated.

"What?" She asked, not expected that to come from him.

He stared firmly at his kunoichi teammate, not looking happy. "Sakura, did you seriously have nothing better to do than wait for me to wake up? Did you? Or did your one track mind forbid you from doing anything else?"

"I... I thought you'd be happy to-"

"To what Sakura? See you keep hovering over me watching every move I make and breath I take? Don't you have any fucking idea how annoying it is having you as my shadow? You're even worse because my shadow at least is silent."

"Sa-Sasuke-kun I'm just trying to-"

"I know exactly what you're trying to do Sakura. You think you can make me love you by smothering me. Newsflash, if that worked the dobe would be your boyfriend by now. You've proven you're just as stupid as he is. You're even worse because the dobe at least can put up a fight." Sasuke interrupted, looking madder when he finished.

Sakura was stunned silent by his enraged tone and expression. Considering the Uchiha's usual facial expression over the past few years, it was often difficult to tell if he was in a good mood or not even for his fangirls. But this was clearly not a good mood. No, instead he looked like one more trigger and he'd be out for blood.

"Sasuke-kun calm down. Nothing's wrong?"

"Calm down? Nothing's wrong? EVERYTHING'S wrong you dipshit! I still can't fucking beat my damn brother. All my training has been completely worthless. I'm falling behind, and if that wasn't worse enough that lousy dead last got away from Itachi in better shape than I did when he shouldn't have even survived the first second near my brother."

"Sasuke-kun you should be happy you're still alive." Sakura tried to tell him.

"Why should I be happy? I've spent my entire life trying to surpass and kill him and I still can't do it." He challenged.

"Well what did you expect? That he'd just stand there and let you kill him?" Sakura challenged back. "Sasuke-kun if you tried fighting him you would have died."

Sasuke glared at her like he was willing her very soul to burst into flames. "So you think I'm weak too huh?"

"What? No I don't. You're one of the strongest people I know. But you're not strong enough to kill an S-rank missing nin like it's child's play."

"Then I'm not as strong as I'm supposed to be." He replied bitterly.

"For crying out loud Sasuke-kun you're only twelve years old. You can't possibly expect yourself to be kage-level at this point." Sakura stated, a bit exasperated. "Just be glad Naruto was able to go get the best medic in the country to heal you."

"Glad? I should be glad that the reason I'm still alive is because HE helped save me? I'd rather be dead than saved by that... that loser!"

"With all due respect Sasuke-kun, Naruto's not a loser anymore. He's gotten a lot stronger since he graduated. I mean, you did say that he was the one who beat that sand-user, not you." Sakura said.

If Sasuke was just mad before, he was certainly pissed now. Reacting quicker than Sakura could anticipate, he leaned up and slapped her hard across her face. Hard enough to lose a tooth and spit out some blood from it.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" She asked, shocked he actually struck her.

And apparently he wasn't done. Sasuke now seemed to lunge out of bed now that he knew he could move better, or maybe it was the adrenaline rush he was feeling, but either way he got out of bed and pushed Sakura to the floor. With the way things looked right now, if anyone else walked in right now they'd think the boy was raping the girl.

Sakura panicked and tried to shove him off, but he wrapped his hands around her neck and started constricting. Gasping for breath, Sakura tried to pry his hands off her neck, but he wouldn't budge. 'He's really trying to suffocate me.'

"Don't you DARE compare that weakling to me!" Sasuke shouted at her, ignoring any pleas coming from her. "I am strong! I am important! I am never supposed to lose! I am the exact opposite of that dobe and I will not allow a weakling like yourself to say he's better than me!"

Doing the only thing she could do while she was still conscious, Sakura reached for her equipment pouch, which she only had on her because she kept some makeup in it, and pulled out a smoke pellet she also kept there. She threw it on the floor creating a large cloud of smoke that obscured vision and breathing. Sasuke coughed and covered his eyes, releasing Sakura in the process.

By the time the smoke cleared, Sakura was gone.

-End Flashback-

When she finished her story, Sakura pulled her lips to reveal her left set of teeth. Everyone could see a missing one on the top jaw that wasn't obvious when she was talking. "This is what he did to me. The choke bruises healed at least, but this won't go away anytime soon."

No one knew what to say to her, but everyone felt bad for her. Ino was even shedding a few tears, sympathizing with the pinkette the most since she knew how painful this must have been for her.

Sakura shed a tear too. "Whatever love I did have for Sasuke died that afternoon. What he did was inexcusable. I... I was so frightened from it and upset that I locked myself in my bedroom for an entire day. I just kept asking myself why he would do such a thing to me?"

"He was likely angry and bitter about something and taking it out on you. But the fact that he went that far is indeed inexcusable." Ino told her old friend, finding her own interest in Sasuke weakening a lot too after hearing this. "If he can attack you like that and try to kill Naruto like you said, then no one's safe around him."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I realized that I could no longer feel safe around him anymore and was strongly tempted to ask the hokage to be reassigned. But we got a mission to Tea Country before I had a chance. I... I knew if I acted different it would only make things worse, so I tried to pretend nothing happened as best I could. Thank Kami-sama Sasuke didn't try to finish what he started. Guess he thought I wasn't worth it anymore."

Hinata then looked confused. "Wait, then why was it on that so-called date you had with Naruto-kun all you talked about was the Uchiha?"

"I wanted to clear my head of so many negative thoughts, and Naruto was the best second opinion I could get. I... I wanted to know what Naruto's thoughts on Sasuke were, see if maybe he was a jerk to others or just me. I just wanted to know if I was the only one he was rude to. Apparently I'm not."

"Okay, that explains why you're not so enthusiastic about Sasuke anymore, but what changed your mind about Naruto?" Ino asked, unaware she also dropped the kun suffix on the Uchiha.

"What changed me Ino? Well, what I can tell you is Naruto at least has never hit me. I'm not even sure he's ever even insulted me. If you knew what I knew, you'd be amazed I'm still alive after all the crap I've given him over the years. And despite all that, Naruto still tries to be my friend. He wants my friendship and respect, he tries to make me happy, and before he realized Hinata was better than me, he actually wanted my affections. So in a way Sasuke was right, he and Naruto _are _exact opposites."

Hinata nodded. "That they are. Too bad you took so long to figure out which one was the yin and which one was the yang."

Sakura nodded shamefully. "Then again, my loss is your gain, right Hinata?"

Hinata came over and sat by the pinkette. "Sakura-san, I will not hurt you for your past atrocities against Naruto-kun. If you're truly sorry and he forgives you then I will not begrudge you either. But if you betray him or try to come between us, all bets are off between you and me. Same goes for you Ino-san."

Sakura nodded, and Ino did so feeling it was the only right thing to do here.

A moment later the rest of the group came back and sat down. Ayame served them all their dinners and they ate quietly. Hinata sat in Naruto's lap, making Kushina smile and Sakura feel a bit envious.

"So what's the next step in our plan?" Ayame asked the older women.

"We've decided to head to a place where Konoha's hunter nins can't find us." Tsunade answered.

"Where? Land of Earth?" Ino asked.

Kushina shook her head. "Nope. Yggdrasil."


	16. Chapter 16

_Recommended Story: 'HSD Naruto' by JAYSEN_

_Happy Birthday Wolfpackersson09_

Chapter Sixteen

"Hiashi-sama, you've got visitors." Neji told his uncle who was out on the veranda one afternoon.

"Very well." The Hyuuga said as he got up and went to the front gate. He wasn't surprised to see Tenten and Shino there, but he did note the absence of Ino and Hinata. "Did you find my daughter?"

"We did, and she is in no danger Hiashi-sama." Tenten told him.

"But where is she?"

"Sire, your orders were to locate her and confirm her well-being. You never said we were required to bring her back here." Shino told him.

Hiashi's expression was unreadable. "I assumed it was implied."

"In missions, objectives are supposed to be clear, not implied, or else the one on them might be flexible with the perimeters of the goal." Shino told him.

Hiashi saw no possible way to argue that so he decided to return the discussion to the proper subject. "Be that as it may, can you at least tell me why Hinata is gone and not coming back?"

"Hokage-sama is watching over Hinata. She says there are threats in Konoha that intend Uzumaki Naruto harm and she is in danger of being targeted via association. Until Hokage-sama hears the threat has ceased, Hinata and Naruto will not return." Shino explained.

"Also, she seems quite happy to be with him." Tenten added.

Hiashi closed his eyes. 'Well she couldn't be in a safer place I suppose. And Hokage-sama did have the right idea; it wouldn't be impossible for the Naruto-haters here to learn of her affection towards him and turn on her too.' He opened his eyes. "Very well, I thank you for you help. I will pay you for this, but first I must ask you two questions."

The genin nodded. "First, if you needed to regain contact with Hokage-sama, would you be capable of it?"

Tenten shook her head. "No we wouldn't. Tsunade-sama made it clear that she'd contact Konoha if she wanted to hear anything. Until then, the only way to contact her is to find her the hard way."

'Only Jiraiya-sama could do that with ease.' Hiashi told himself. "Alright. And lastly, where's the girl who went with you?"

"She is doing a specific assignment for Hokage-sama right now." Shino told him.

Hiashi almost deflated a little bit. "You mean Hokage-sama's keeping her close to keep tabs on her, am I right?"

Tenten and Shino did not hesitate to nod.

"Inoichi is not going to like this."

* * *

><p>"You've got a visitor." A male voice said before a door was unlocked and opened.<p>

Kakashi entered the room and saw someone who once was so promising to him but now disgusted him. Sasuke Uchiha was now treated for his injuries but only to the point where his life and well-being were no longer in danger. Some of them had remained untreated to make it harder for him to resist others. Right now he was chained to a wall but given enough slack to move around a little if he needed to, though the chains on his wrists made sure it was impossible for him to bring his hands close enough together to use jutsu.

Sasuke looked at his sensei. "You here to get me out?"

"Now why would you think that?" Kakashi asked, testing for the answer.

"Because I don't deserve to be in this crappy place."

"You deserted your village to join up with a confirmed traitor and enemy of the village, you tried to kill one of your comrades, your own teammate nonetheless, you resisted arrest and you've shown no remorse or ignorance of your own actions. So yes, you do deserve to be in here."

Sasuke glared at the jounin. "How dare you? I-" Before he could go off, Kakashi hit him with a taser on low setting, silencing the emo avenger a bit longer.

"Your background means nothing here, _genin_. You are a criminal and you will be punished like any other criminal guilty of your crimes. Give me one good reason why you should be spared."

"I'm an Uchiha dammit!" Sasuke all but roared.

Kakashi did not look intimidated. "I asked for a reason, not a name."

"My name and status are reason enough." Sasuke said like it was inarguable.

"And yet here you are and I'm not doing jack shit." Kakashi said, crossing his arms but keeping the taser visible to his arrogant student. "And you know what, you're weaker than Naruto."

"WHAT?" Sasuke screamed, scrambling to break thru his chains to get at Kakashi like a rabid dog. And like a rabid dog, Kakashi had to taser him again, this time on a higher charge.

"Learn your place you piece of worse-than-trash." The cycloptic jounin told the Uchiha. "You _are_ weaker than Naruto. You couldn't beat Haku in Wave, but Naruto did. You were afraid to fight Orochimaru, but Naruto wasn't. You couldn't defeat Gaara, but Naruto succeeded. You couldn't lay one finger on Itachi, but Naruto could."

"Shut up!" Sasuke said, not quite able to get back on his feet but trying. Kakashi kicked his legs to make him fall back down.

"No Sasuke. Time for you to face the truth beyond your ego. You are not the great ninja you think you are. In fact, you want to know why I trained you exclusively during the chuunin exams? It was not because I wanted you to win. What I wanted was for you not to be killed. I knew Naruto could survive and maybe even win without me, but you on the other hand would have been killed in the first minute without my help."

"You calling me weak?" Sasuke asked angrily.

"Compared to Gaara and Naruto, yes, yes I am. No matter how strong you are Sasuke there is always someone stronger than you. There are even people stronger than Itachi who could kill him before you even get the chance."

Sasuke glared and clenched his teeth. "No one can kill Itachi but me. I forbid it."

"Face it Sasuke, you're in here and he's out there. And with him being a missing nin with a bounty on his head, there's absolutely no reason for you to believe you're the only one who's interested in killing him. For all we know someone's already beaten you to it. Then what will you have?"

"I must be the one to kill Itachi. It must be me."

"For who Sasuke? For who?"

"For my clan."

"So your clan cannot rest in peace until you personally kill Itachi, and if someone else does it his death means nothing?" Kakashi asked, but got no answer. "Are you doing this for them Sasuke, or are you doing it for yourself? Think about that if you want anyone to respect you for something other than your eyes."

Kakashi then left the cell, tuning out the angry rants of his once prized student. 'I wonder how bad he'd be if I trained my team seriously from the beginning. I'm glad I knew that wasn't a good idea, but I'm bummed the circumstances never changed.'

Most people would call Kakashi lazy for not training his students in anything except tree-walking or teamwork attempts all this time, but he did have a reason for it. Reason being that Sasuke had an alpha fixation worse than any Inuzuka, and he wasn't afraid to do something about it. If it looked like Naruto or Sakura had skills he didn't, any shred of teamwork would have been ruined and he would have tried to take the skill from them, sharingan or otherwise. And if they appeared stronger than him, Sasuke might have even killed them. The Valley of the End and his belief the law couldn't touch him in a negative way only reinforced that suspicion.

So Kakashi had to keep Naruto and Sakura less trained for their own good and Sasuke's as well. Until Sasuke could learn to share, no one on the team was getting anything the others couldn't get as well. A good idea at first, but the problem was Sasuke wasn't maturing as fast as Kakashi had hoped. If anything he was going in reverse.

'Sensei, I wish you were here. You'd know what to do.' Kakashi said. 'I hope Kushina can help when she gets back.'

* * *

><p>After later meeting up with Inoichi and telling him of Ino's situation, the Yamanaka head indeed not liking it, Shino and Tenten felt they had one more audience to address on the matter. That audience being Kiba, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, and Chouji.<p>

"What's up guys?" Kiba asked when they were all gathered inside the hospital since Neji and Chouji weren't yet ready to leave.

"I'm not allowed to reveal much, but what I can tell you is our comrades Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, will not be around inside Konoha for an indeterminate amount of time." Shino told them.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked for everyone.

"That I cannot say. All I can say is they are." Shino told the shadow user.

"Really?" Chouji asked. "Nothing else?"

"We shouldn't go looking for them. Instead, we should remain on alert for problems in Konoha that might keep them away longer." Tenten added.

"Like what?" Kiba asked.

"I'm afraid that's everything we can say." Tenten finished. "Sorry guys."

"C'mon Shino, you can tell us. Where is Hinata?" Kiba asked, concerned for his teammate.

"I'm afraid I cannot say anything other than she is safe and enjoying herself." The bug user told the dog user.

Before Kiba could insist on more, Shikamaru put his hand on his shoulder. "Kiba, read between the lines and you'll have your answer."

"What?"

"Despite the lack of direct answers Shino and Tenten have given us, you can determine more info from how they're telling it." Shikamaru stated. Everyone looked confused a bit and listened in. "Shino cannot tell us more, but he says it like he's ordered not to as opposed to being uninformed. This means someone with rank ordered him and Tenten to be silent, which means someone with rank is with Naruto and the others."

"Like a mission?" Chouji asked.

"No, they are not on a mission." Tenten told him. "It's more like emergency leave."

"Emergency leave?" Kiba and Neji asked. Shino and Tenten nodded.

"That confirms my other theory." Shikamaru stated. "Tenten earlier said that rather than go after them, we should keep our eyes on Konoha instead. This implies that there's something here in Konoha which is a threat to our friends and they needed to escape. The threat is likely biding its time now and we should be on alert so we can intercept it if possible."

"Okay then, so what's the threat?" Kiba asked.

"I'm not sure, but the timing could explain it for us." Shikamaru told him. "Tell me, what's the most recent thing either Naruto, Sakura, Ino, or Hinata have been involved in?"

"I don't know about the others, but Naruto was involved in our mission to bring Sasuke back." Kiba answered, then his eyes widened. "Wait, you think there's a connection?"

"We have to consider the possibility here. He was the one who helped ensure Sasuke did not escape to Orochimaru, and from what I heard Sakura and Hinata arrived as back-up. Someone who wanted Sasuke to leave Konoha, likely Orochimaru himself, would surely want something unpleasant done to those three for this."

"Ino's only involved now because her gossip habit makes her a security risk on the matter so Ho... I mean..." Tenten started, but slipped up and shut up.

Shikamaru looked at her. "Tenten, Shino, who is the one who told you not to say much? Can you at least tell us that?"

"There is no point in hiding it anymore. It was Hokage-sama, accompanied by her assistant and two other women connected to Naruto we are not at liberty to identity." Shino responded.

"But... wouldn't that mean the hokage is outside Konoha right now?" Chouji asked. His confusion was understandable, given that kages usually didn't leave their villages on regular basis's.

Shikamaru sighed. "That complicates things, but it could explain things too. Hokage-sama could have easily assigned someone to guard three to four genin, but chose to do the job herself. With three other adults I might add. Obviously this is no ordinary threat. This is major. Too major to figure out with current available data."

"But why leave Konoha then? Wouldn't staying here be safer?" Chouji asked.

"Not if the threat was coming _from_ Konoha." Neji added.

"Wait, I thought Orochimaru was the threat." Kiba reminded everyone.

"I said he's a potential threat. I never said he was the only possibility. And even if he was, it's likely he has someone here in Konoha to help him. He did sneak Kabuto in after all, and in order to get Sasuke to leave Konoha he needed someone on his side to be here to bait the Uchiha." Shikamaru clarified.

"Things are getting really bad here." Tenten commented.

* * *

><p>"Here we are. Yggdrasil." Kushina told her group when they reached their destination.<p>

What the group saw was the single largest tree they had ever seen before, and being from Konoha many of them were used to gigantic trees. This tree in fact looked like you could fit an entire hidden village in the canopy alone. Around the tree's base were a vast field of blue flowers, almost making it look like the tree was growing out of a lake. Wrapped around the trunk was a thick rope with paper streamers hanging off it, just like something you might see at a Shinto shrine.

"Wait, this is the legendary tree called Uzumeboku. You mean to say this thing is connected to another world?" Tsunade asked.

The tree was regarded as sacred by most holy men who lived in the area, some even claimed it came from a god's garden and some suspected Hashirama meditated by it and gained the mokuton this way. While nothing could be proved, the tree did seem to generate a chakra all it's own, something thought impossible for a plant. Thus it was mutually decided that nothing was to be done to it since it was one of a kind within the Elemental Nations and no one wanted the stigma of being the nation or village that damaged it. To resolve another issue, the land around it was considered separate from all nations, it's own private land between Land of Fire and Land of Valleys.

"Yep. This tree is actually the physical manifestation of one of Yggdrasil's roots. Yggdrasil holds the realms together but since mortal eyes can't see how it does that, all we can see are trees like this. But they are so much more than titanic plants. They are the gates to other worlds, elevators if you will, if one knows how to use them."

"Why has no one ever done that before?" Shizune asked. "I mean, surely someone from our world would have learned that by now."

"The Sage did." Kushina pointed out. "As for why no one else likely did, do you think that's what they were trying to find out?"

"I guess not, but how are we going there with this?" Shizune asked.

"Why are we going somewhere anyway?" Ino asked.

"Because the known means to heal my sister and Isaribi-chan are only functional in the world I came from. And if I stay away too long others might come looking for me and we may have a problem on our hands with Asurians roaming around Midgard." Kushina told her.

Kushina had already told Ino the details of the five worlds and Yggdrasil, and due to necessity the fact she was a succubus and Naruto was developing as an incubus. Ino didn't want to believe this was true, but seeing a tail and wings on Naruto then later on Kushina kind of made it hard to not consider it. The only thing Ino had not been told yet was the fact Naruto was a jinchuuriki, and she was going to stay ignorant of that until the group saw her as harmless around Naruto.

So far Ino had remained silent around Naruto. When he tried talking to her, she just looked away. He stopped rather quickly, already used to this from her. Ino did it not out of anger, but of fear. She had heard nothing good about incubi and despite Kushina's assurances the legends weren't accurate, she still couldn't relax around the boy.

"Can we just fucking go already? I'm tired of not being able to stand." Tayuya complained. Her injury didn't hurt so much anymore but she was basically paralyzed from the waist down and now seated by a tree, only able to move when someone carried her.

"Do we have to?" Ino asked nervously. "I mean, you did say using this thing was risky. And how do we know we can even get back here? It took you twelve years to get back."

"That wasn't my fault. There were forces beyond my control. Anyway, you want to be here all alone?" Kushina told the platinum blonde.

"You'd leave me behind?" Ino asked.

"I don't want to, but if you refuse to join us we may have to." Kushina stated. "We need to go to Alfheim. You're welcome to come or stay, but if you stay you're on your own."

Ino looked around and saw no one was offering to remain with her. "You'd really just abandon me?"

"Ino, why do you not want to go?" Naruto asked.

The young mindwalker finally responded to him for the first time in days. "Because I'm afraid, alright?"

"You're not the only one. I'm afraid too." He told her, catching her off guard. "I found out things about myself I thought were impossible. I found out my village is close to starting a civil war over my right to live. I found out that almost everything I thought was true is a lie and the only way to know why things have gone this way and where they'll go from here is to go to another world. Of course I'm afraid to face what I may find out. I'm afraid I wont be able to handle it. But I'd rather find out the truth than choose to let a lie be the only thing I do know."

Ino looked semi-amazed to hear this. 'Is that what I'm really afraid of? That I won't like what I learn?' She cleared her throat. "But what if you're better off not knowing?"

"Are you a coward Ino?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked, jerking back as if stabbed.

"You're afraid to learn something new. You're afraid to go somewhere new. You're afraid of me because you don't understand what I am, because of this." He paused and released his wings and tails to emphasize his claim. "You're afraid of where we are because you want to be home instead. Are you a kunoichi, or are you a coward?"

Ino frowned and leaned closer to him. "I'm a kunoichi dammit!"

He leaned closer to her. "Then act like one. You can't be a ninja and remain in your comfort zone 24/7. Try something new once in a while, even if it's risky."

Ino had to back up a bit. She had a bit of sensor talent, albeit untrained and unused, but she could feel something coming from Naruto. It was hard to describe except as a sort of invisible caress like a lot of feathers combined with a strangely appealing scent of sweat combined with citrus. It made her feel hot and bothered.

She wasn't the only one. All the women could feel it too. Tsunade, Shizune, Tayuya, Isaribi, Ayame, and Moegi all felt strange and uncertain, but Hinata and Sakura found themselves strangely drawn to Naruto because of this. Hinata was even rubbing her thighs together a bit and Sakura's nipples hardened.

Kushina smiled. 'Ah, my son's first incubus aura flare. Get used to it son, because I think the girl's are really going to appreciate it the more it happens.'

Soon the sensation faded and everyone shrugged it off. Narto saw the uncertain look in Ino's eyes and mistook it for fear. "Ino, I swear someday we will return you to Konoha. Just not now. I promise on my nindo you will be able to go home someday."

Ino slowly nodded, finding herself feeling much more relaxed. "You mean that Naruto?"

"Have I ever lied to you Ino?"

It was then that Ino realized something that before only Hinata and Ayame knew. Naruto was known as many things, but one of the few bad labels never given to him was 'liar'.

"Okay, I'll trust you Naruto, but I'm also going to hold you to that promise." The platinum blonde told the sunny blonde, using her hand to brush some of his stray hair out of his face in an effort to show she wouldn't be hostile to him anymore if she could help it.

He nodded. "So am I."

She pulled her hand away but overcome with curiosity Ino redirected it to caress his wing. "Wow, it feels like velvet."

"What are you doing?" Kushina shouted, looking shocked.

Ino pulled back her hand. "What? What's wrong?"

Kushina stepped up to her. "Touching the wings or tails of our kind when you're not a mate is sexual harassment for us. You might as well have caressed his manhood."

Ino paled and was wide-eyed, as were the other girls except Moegi who didn't fully understand the implication. "I'm terribly sorry. I had no way of knowing that."

"Good, but unless you become one of my son's lovers or medics you shouldn't do that again." The redhead said, then looked like she got an idea all of a sudden. "You know, since you groped my son like that, maybe you should let him touch you somewhere private to make things even. How about you let him touch your breasts?"

Ino blushed and covered her still-developing chest. "What? No way!"

"Fair's fair little lady. You touched him, he should get to touch you." Kushina claimed.

Hinata stepped forward. "Not until after I have that pleasure. He's my boyfriend after all."

Even though he was uncomfortable by this topic, Naruto couldn't help but stare at Hinata's bosom then at Ino's, comparing the two. Sakura looked down at her own doing the same, wishing hers had more appeal and wondering if Naruto would even want to touch hers if the situation came up.

Kushina smiled then nodded to the young girl. "Now that that's taken care of, shall we go?"

"Sure. But how do we use this thing?" Ayame asked.

"Same way I used it to get back here. Just back up a second." Kushina said. Everyone gave her some space.

Kushina took a deep breath, closed her eyes, clapped her hands together then placed her palms on the tree trunk. "Yggdrasil WorldTree, qsuedu h'temy zu emf zip qetyp degu evvudd ya Alfheim."

Her hands glowed orange, then the bark glowed white between the cracks of the bark. It almost looked like a glowing tribal design was etched into the wood that spread out, then condensed around Kushina. The glow then created a thin vertical line in front of the Uzumaki matriarch, then the wood to the right just appeared to peel away.

"It looks like an elevator opening up." Moegi said in awe.

Kushina smiled. "I did say the tree was like an elevator to other worlds didn't I?"

"So we just go in?" Sakura asked.

"We sure as hell don't stand outside an elevator and expect it to take us somewhere do we?" Kushina asked back.

"Can we go already?" Tayuya impatiently asked.

Kushina picked her sister up and holstered her on her back. "Let's go, and be on your guard. It's not as safe as a normal elevator." She then walked in, vanishing from sight.

"I just hope there's no crappy muzak." Tsunade muttered as she followed and in turn was followed by all the others.


	17. Chapter 17

_Recommended Story: Beyond the Shadows by NeonZangetsu_

Chapter Seventeen

"I told you we shouldn't have done this!" Ino screamed as the group ran from their pursuer.

Traveling thru Yggdrasil was definitely not like the group had expected. With all the elevator references, that's kind of what they were expecting. Instead, they appeared in some light-blue abyss, like the sky had curled around around them in every conceivable direction, and the only thing to stand on were enormous tree limbs that snaked everywhere. The limbs forked, merged, bent, ascended, descended, looped, curved, and in some spots did more than one of those at once. It looked like something out of an abstract arboretum.

That was not what Ino was yelling about though. No, what she was yelling about was the fact that the group was being chased by some see-thru apparition that could only be described as some sort of hybrid between a bear and a squirrel.

"Just keeping running. It's a slow one anyway." Kushina yelled, running the fastest since she was carrying Tayuya on her back.

"What is that thing?" Someone asked, but it was impossible to say exactly who asked it. For all Kushina knew it was everyone at once.

"It's a native of Yggdrasil, a Pretan. They're quite territorial of otherworlders using this realm to get around, and it's just our bad luck that one of them happened to spot us. Just keep running and try not to yell unless you want more to show up."

That silenced everyone, but sadly that didn't solve all their problems.

Moegi was of course the slowest one in the group since she was the smallest and the least experienced. Naruto was holding her hand trying to help her keep up, but she was having trouble still. "Boss! I can't keep up!" She yelled, feeling tired and sore from all this.

Unable to form a clone with one of his hands full, Naruto settled for tightening his grip. "Just hold on Moegi! We'll make it!"

The group had to make a sharp turn because they came to a point where the branch they were on did as well, and in the motion Moegi's hand slipped out of Naruto's and her body stumbled forward unbalanced. After the tumble onto the uneven surface the young girl rolled over and almost fell off the branch entirely, tightly gripping the bark to avoid falling into the depths of Yggdrasil.

"BOSS! HELP!"

Before she even had to shout Naruto turned around to go get her. The problem was the squirrel creature was heading her way too. Reacting on impulse as usual, he created a clone and charged up a rasengan. However, it didn't want to form.

"What the heck?" He asked, but saw no time to try again. Doing the only thing he felt he could do, the real Naruto moved to pull Moegi up while the clone ran to the Pretan hoping to stall it somehow.

"Hold on!" he shouted as he grabbed the girl's wrist and tried to heft her back up, ignoring what was going on around him in the meantime. Luckily movement to both his left and right made him aware of his surroundings again.

"We'll help you out." Isaribi said as she and Sakura tried pulling Moegi up with him.

"Thanks guys." He said as the rosy-cheeked girl started to rise.

The clone meanwhile was doing a good job distracting the Pretan but no luck in actually hurting it. Apparently it didn't just look like a ghost, it acted like one, which sadly was something Naruto was not fond of. The only reason the clone wasn't freaking out was because Naruto was even less fond of those close to him getting hurt. "Dammit, how am I supposed to hurt this thing?"

"Chakra won't work here and physical attacks are near useless against the Pretans. You need mana, and even then Yggdrassil makes it difficult to cast spells!" Kushina yelled back as Naruto managed to pull Moegi back up and the clone got destroyed by the Pretan's claws.

"You okay Moegi?" He asked. She nodded and held him tightly, but allowed him to reposition her on his back. Without a look back he started running to catch up with the others.

Sakura and Isaribi tried to catch up too. Sakura was doing better since Isaribi had no true shinobi training, but both were giving all they had just to outrun the ghost squirrel creature. Naruto looked behind himself to see if it was catching up and saw the two of them were close to being caught. Reacting immediately he created two clones which knelt down in front of them and allowed them both to be carried. Neither Sakura or Isaribi resisted, and noted even with passengers Naruto could run faster than they were.

'This reminds me of what Naruto said he did in Snow Country.' Sakura thought, remembering how Naruto said he outran a train with Princess Koyuki on his back. 'I thought he was exaggerating, but maybe he really did that. Naruto, will you ever not surprise me?'

"We're almost there." Kushina told everyone, though no one could tell how exactly she knew that. "Everybody ready?"

"YES!" Everyone screamed. "GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Kushina nodded. "Then jump!" She jumped off the branch and revealed her wings, flying in place for everyone to see where she was. "Jump and follow me." She then descended, Tayuya involuntarily going with her in the dive.

No one jumped off the branch. "Is she out of her mind?" Ino asked then looked down. She and everyone else could see her diving towards what looked like a whirlpool floating in midair made out of grey light with a white epicenter. "There's no way I'm jumping into something like that."

"It's either this or that." Ayame told her, pointing to the approaching Pretan at the word 'that'.

"Geronimo!" Ino shouted as she jumped towards the whirlpool.

Tsunade, Shizune, Ayame, and Hinata followed right after her, and Naruto, Moegi, Sakura, and Isaribi followed too once they got there. Just as they jumped, the Pretan caught up and swung its claws, missing them but Sakura felt a slash on her back, making her cry out.

Everyone fell into the whirlpool of light but instead of being caught up in any current, they just pass right thru it. They couldn't see anything, just a lot of grey and white, and for a brief moment it felt like there was no gravity at all, then a simple thud, as if they had fallen a few feet instead of what couldn't have been less than 20 meters. But now they were at least on solid ground it felt like.

Their vision was now all black with small flecks of white light, which got bigger and clearer. Then they could all see again, and they saw themselves at the base of a gigantic tree again.

"Where are we? Is this back where we started?" Tsunade asked as she got back on her feet. She and everyone else looked like they landed ungracefully yet unharmed.

"No, this is Alfheim." Kushina told the sannin, being the only one here who didn't look like she jumped out of a tree.

Everyone got up at their own pace, Naruto's clones dispelling and Sakura, Isaribi, and even Moegi allowed to support themselves now, then looked over the area. They saw a wide open meadow that could only be described as a sea of grass with forests obscuring the horizon in all directions. The sky was blue, the sun was yellow, the clouds were white, everything looked completely normal.

"It looks just like Earth." Hinata stated.

"What were you expecting, a Martian desert?" Kushina asked. "There are three earths my dear, Alfheim, Midgard, and Makai. They all look alike for the most part, the differences are mostly what lives in them and how the landmasses are shaped. The biggest difference of course being the type of energy used in the world. This is the world of mana."

"So where exactly are we in this world?" Shizune asked.

"Here, I'll show you a map." Kushina said, letting Tayuya down and reaching into her supply pouch to pull out a rolled up piece of paper. She unrolled it as everyone gathered around to show a map. It looked almost like the map of the Elemental nations just flipped upside down. (Think of a map of Europe but take away the Mediterranean Sea and combine Europe with the top of Africa, that's what this map is showing) The countries were clearly marked and five of them looked larger than the rest.

"In Midgard we have the Elemental Nations, where countries are named after the five basic elements and other environmental features. This here in Alfheim is called the Emotional Nations, with countries named after the five basic emotions and other personality traits. The five major countries here are called Kanki no Kuni, Kanashimi no Kuni, Ikari no Kuni, Osore no Kuni, and Ai no Kuni."

"Joy, sorrow, anger, fear, and love." Tsunade repeated.

Kushina nodded. "The five most basic of all emotions. We are here, within Ai no Kuni, which is where I've been all this time." She added, pointing to the country in the lower right corner of the map. When comparing this to the map of the Elemental Nations, Ai no Kuni was where Land of Fire was, Kanki no Kuni was where Land of Earth was but as an island, Kanashimi no Kuni was where Land of wind was, Ikari no Kuni was where Land of Lightning was but as a peninsula, and Osore no Kuni was right in the center of them all. In between all of them were smaller nations.

"So what should we expect in this world? How is it different than our own?" Tsunade asked, certain that Kushina could easily answer that given her experiences in both worlds.

"The differences are probably too much for me to list if I were to go into complete detail. So I'll start you all in on the basics. One, there are multiple sentient races here, most of which only exist in Midgard in legends. The dominant race are the elves which come in varieties. Other races that live here include merfolk, dwarves, and of course, the succubi. Two, there are no ninjas here or hidden villages. Wars have been fought using other types of warriors and mana usage has been developed for many uses, not just combat, espionage, and healing. Three, the ruling system is different here. They don't have daimyos or kages, instead they have something called kings, queens, and lords and counts. Though the managing system is essentially the same. Or at least it will be again."

"Beg pardon?" Tsunade asked.

At the same time Sakura winced, catching Kushina's attention. The pinkette was trying to bear some kind of pain. "Are you hurt Sakura?"

"I'm fine, I just got scratched on my back." She said, trying not to make it a big deal when she felt no blood.

Kushina's eyes widened. "You better let us see it."

Sakura nodded, turned around, and pulled up the back of her dress, revealing her black shorts and a pink bra, but no injury.

"I don't see anything." Tsunade said.

"Were you at all hit by that Pretan?" Kushina asked.

"Maybe, right after I jumped it might have knicked me."

"Not good. Just like how you can't damage a Pretan physically, they can't damage us physically either. What they do is much worse. Each hit they make... takes years off your life until you have none left to give. No one told me what they do after you die though, but I think they eat the body."

Sakura looked horrified and turned around covering herself. "What? How much time do I have left?"

"Hard to say. Pretan's never leave wounds so it's impossible to know how much damage it did. You might have lost as little as a few days, or as much as several years. But I wouldn't say one glancing attack will put you in immediately fear of death."

"Can you help her like you can help me or fishface?" Tayuya asked.

"Hey!" Isaribi complained.

"I don't know. It's certainly possible, but I can't promise that. For now, all we can do is wait until we can see someone much more educated on Pretans than myself. When it comes to these subjects I've struggled to learn as much as I can in the past few years, but there's still a lot left for me to learn." Kushina told everyone.

"I'll manage for now. It just feels like I sprained my back. Maybe a good massage would ease it." Sakura noted, then glanced towards Naruto. "Naruto, could you help me?"

"Sure Sakura-chan." He said before going up behind her and starting a basic back rub. "That good?"

Sakura smiled and hummed in content. "Hmm... much better. Thanks Naruto."

Hinata lightly frowned but she decided to let this one go. There was nothing to be jealous about after all.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying, the population is composed of several different races here, most of which you might consider the 'good guys' of fantasy. Of course not all of them actually are good, but humans are not native to this world so don't expect to see many if any." Kushina continued.

"So there are humans here?" Ino asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes but not many. Their ancestors came here long ago and just stayed so they left descendants. Some of them are even half-human half-another race. Here in Ai no Kuni, the majority of the non-elf population is composed of succubi like myself. In fact, the royalty here in Ai no Kuni are succubi, and... well, I'm not sure how to explain this, but apparently I'm part of that family."

"What?" Everyone asked.

"It's true. My mother was the previous true queen of Ai no Kuni, and since the line usually succeeds the first born succubus or incubus, that means Naruto is the first successor to the throne of Ai no Kuni should I perish or pass it to him." Kushina said as Naruto just stared in mid rub.

"Boss?" Moegi asked as she patted his back for him to fall down immediately. "BOSS!"

Sakura by virtue of being the nearest was the first to check on him, with Hinata very shortly coming up to him as well. "I think he's just in shock. Can't say I blame him. Not everyday you find out you're royalty."

Hinata nodded. "It's overwhelming alright. Learning he's a different species, learning his mother is alive and his father was a hokage, lear-"

"What?" Ino asked. "What did you say? Naruto's father was a hokage?"

Everyone froze, now realizing they had forgotten to mention that detail to the Yamanaka. Sakura sighed. "Yes Ino, he is. And not just any hokage. His father is the Yondaime."

"The Yondaime? Seriously?" Ino repeated. She was certain this was a joke, but so far in her time with this group she had no reason to believe any of them had lied to her about anything. And when she looked at Naruto, she noticed there was a similarity given the spiky yellow hair both men had and the blue eyes. "But then, why do so many people in Konoha want to kill him?"

Everyone was hesitant to answer, and so finally Sakura turned to her old friend. "Ino, if we tell you, you have to swear that this information is absolutely off-limits gossip-wise. Thrown in a vault and buried underground, not something you can just tell anyone. Ever."

"Who am I going to tell here?" Ino asked, opening her arms to indicate the lack of uninformed people.

"No one. Not now. Not ever. Not for any reason. I'm completely serious Ino." Sakura reinforced.

"I think you're only making her more interested." Hinata commented while trying to break Naruto of his catatonic state.

"Even so, you agree with my message right Hinata?"

"Oh absolutely."

Right then Naruto returned to the world of the conscious. "Mom, were you serious?"

"When haven't I been serious with you Son?" Kushina asked. "Here you're a bonafide prince, and I swear here you'll be treated like one."

"You mean I'd be treated like Sasuke?" Naruto asked, not liking the idea.

"I can't say for certain since I wasn't there to see it, but I can say you'd be treated with dignity and respect."

"Why? Just because you're my mother?" He asked.

Kushina could now see where this was going. "Naruto, unfortunately that is how it may start. A sad fact about life is there are plenty of shallow people who love or hate you for anything, be it your fault or not. There will be some people that will treat you like an elite just because you're my son, but there are also people who won't but will at least be polite enough to give you a chance to impress them yourselves. I know you want to be liked for your own worth instead of mine but you can't expect to get that right away."

"Still doesn't feel right."

"No, but it's better to be liked for the wrong reason than hated for the wrong reason in my opinion. At least then you have a better chance of being liked for the right reason someday." She told him, but Naruto just sighed as if defeated.

"What's the problem here? I'd thought someone would love to find out they're royalty." Ino asked, confused.

"It's just hard to accept. I wanted to be seen as myself, not as something else. But I guess that will never happen." He said to himself.

Hinata wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I've always liked you that way Naruto-kun. So it has happened. Am I not good enough?"

He turned and surprised her by kissing her, which surprised the others since this was the first time they saw him initiate affection between them. "You're terrific Hinata-chan, I'm very happy to have you. I'm just upset others can't see what you can."

"I can Naruto." Sakura told him gently. "I'm sorry it took me so long to. You may not be perfect, but you're my friend, my hero, and overall the best boy I've ever known. That's who you are to me."

Naruto turned red from the praise. "Thanks Sakura-chan, that means a lot to me."

'Wow, Forehead sounds almost exactly like Hinata.' Ino thought, noticing the way Sakura looked at Naruto. 'Wait a minute, could she...?'

"Ah, this is so sweet it just has to be fattening." Tayuya sarcastically stated, breaking the mood. "If you guys are done, I'd like to see someone who can get me on my feet again please. I'm getting really tired of asking for that."

Kushina nodded. "Yes, we'll get going. Just try not to touch anything, say anything to anyone or draw attention to yourselves. Naruto, don't show your wings and tail yet, that is best saved for later. Now the nearest town is about two hours away, so let's get going."

* * *

><p>After a long walk they reached the town Kushina was referring to, and it was unlike anything the others had expected. When they heard that this world was dominated by elves and the like, they kind of pictured it looking like something out of Tolkien. Huts instead of buildings, dirt paths instead of roads, and lots of little people working and frolicking outside.<p>

Instead this was like the villages they were used to back home. Buildings made of metal with glass windows, paved streets with sidewalks, even electric streetlights and power lines. And the people out and about looked as human as they did, except for the ones with wings and tails like Kushina.

"Wow, this is a normal town here?" Ino asked.

"What were you expecting? Technology exists in all worlds, though Makai is probably the least advanced." Kushina answered.

"I guess I was expecting something a little more... medieval." The ponytailed blonde replied.

"Nope." was all Kushina said to that.

They walked thru the town, the group doing their best to stay inconspicuous. Kushina was the only one standing out given the fact she showed off her succubus features without fear. The others kept themselves busy by taking note of the town, seeing how it differed from Konoha now they had a closer look.

Signs were in front of shops written in some unrecognized script, but the merchandise was often seen and recognizable to them. The people that looked normal apparently had pointed ears and various hair and eye colors, but their clothes were oddly normal compared to Konoha's casual clothes. There were no posted guards anywhere, none that could be seen anyway. In a way, it kind of reminded them all of the towns they went to on missions.

Kushina smiled during the walk, aware that looking unfriendly here would not be a good idea, and led her group to the center of the town. Near there they found what looked like a hotel and she went inside. "Hi, I'm here to see Admiral Banfu or at least one of his men please."

The receptionist, a pointy-eared woman with violet hair and eyes wearing a white uniform, nodded. "I'll see if any of them are in their rooms at the moment." She then headed off.

Kushina turned around. "While we wait, how about we get some lunch?"

"Do they-?"

"Yes Son they have ramen here in Alfheim."


	18. Chapter 18

_Recommended Story: 'Hinata's Guardian' by Rasenganfin_

Chapter Eighteen

Everyone was seated in the hotel's restaurant looking at the menus. To their relief there were plenty of foods they were familiar with, though of course there were some they weren't. Things like the roasted alligator and the bear claws (which weren't pastries in this restaurant by the way) were very unexpected.

Naruto was the first to order, and the rest followed once they found something acceptable to them. Tsunade was the only one who tried something different. She wanted to see how different Alfheim sake was from the kind of her world. Her judgment, so far not as good but she wasn't drunk yet so it had a chance still.

"While we're waiting for our food, I guess I should tell you all something that up until now wouldn't have made a whole lot of sense." Kushina started. "My background story."

Everyone listened in, curious about many things about Kushina. Like how could she have been a succubus? Why did she live in Konoha if she came from this world? Why did she leave Naruto? And why only now did she return?

"Just so you know, a lot of what I'm about to say will confuse you. Feel free to ask questions if you must, but please refrain from yelling. We are in a public place after all."

Everyone nodded, curious to hear this. But Ino was probably the most curious of all. 'Maybe I can learn what Forehead and Hinata are refusing to tell me about Naruto.'

"My parents, my birth parents that is." She said, giving Tayuya a brief glance during the clarification. "They were the king and queen of Ai no Kuni, the daimyo's if you will. My father was an incubus and my mother was a succubus, as was normal for royal lines. I don't really remember much about them, because they died when I was really young."

"How?" Naruto asked.

"My memories are really hazy and for most of my life I thought it was just a dream, but apparently what happened was a coup de taut."

"A what?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"A revolution Naruto. A mutiny. Someone thought they deserved to be in charge instead and decided to get rid of the ones who were in charge." Ayame explained to him.

He nodded in understanding then looked back at his mother. "Why would they do that? Were your parents bad rulers Mom?"

"I have no idea son. All I have to go on at this point are stories. Some people liked them, and some didn't. Eventually fights broke out over it and the haters took action. I was unaware of this when it happened, and growing up I thought it all was just a recurring dream I had as a child. So some of what I'm telling you is based on what I was told when I got back here, not based on memory."

"How old were you at the time?" Tsunade asked.

"Four." Kushina answered.

"Then it's very likely you filtered out the memories that no longer made sense to you when you made it to Konoha. At that age it's very understandable."

Kushina nodded. "During the revolution, my nanny managed to get me out of the castle and somehow got me to Yggdrassil. I think she got wounded, because after we made it to Midgard and the Elemental Nations she just... disappeared. She stayed long enough to get me away from the tree we used to leave Midgard, and took me coincidentally towards the Uzushio refuges, but... I don't remember what happened to her. My best guess is she died or maybe came back here once I was safe."

"And then you were found by my family." Tayuya mentioned.

Kushina nodded. "Yes. The Uzumaki family heading to Konoha found me along the way and took me in, sensing my aura they mistook as special chakra. I came with them to Konoha and quickly forgot my life here in Alfheim, but I didn't mind. I was happy in Konoha with my friends, new family, and later husband."

"Now, when Naruto was born and the Kyuubi attacked, I knew there was a good chance I would die. But before that happened, some soldiers from here managed to find me. They said the timing was pure coincidence, but I still find that a bit too convenient. They abducted me before the sealing on Naruto could be complete, and brought me against me will back to Alfheim."

"Sealing on Naruto?" Ino asked. Isaribi was confused too, and judging by the looks on everyone's faces, she and Ino were the only ones here that didn't know what that meant.

Sakura, Hinata, Moegi, and Ayame gave the platinum blonde sharp looks. "Now's not the time to discuss that." Ayame told her, leaving no room for discussion.

"When I came here I was incredibly confused and angry. The problem was I had no idea how to leave, so I was forced to stay at first. During that time I learned what I had forgotten and was never told. It was confusing as hell, but it was hard to argue against the evidence. I mean, how else would you explain me having wings and a tail for once?"

"Kushina, did you get those traits before you left Konoha or after?" Tsunade asked. "It's obvious you didn't have them when the Uzumaki's found you or else you might have been feared by them and left behind."

"It wasn't until after I came here. You see, my kind at first look human, but as we get older we develop extra body parts. Basically our puberty has a few extra features included and starts a bit sooner than in humans. First comes the tail, then the wings, and for succubi then breasts, then for both of us the ability to have children. Naruto right now is basically close to finishing puberty."

"Wow." Sakura, Ino, and Hinata said.

"For me however the process was different, thanks to a certain influence." Kushina said, carefully avoiding a direct mention of her being a jinchuuriki. "For some reason, instead of maturing as a succubus, I developed as a human. I grew breasts but not tail or wings. Those didn't appear until after that influence was removed from me. So I sort of went thru puberty twice."

"Whoa, bummer." Tsunade said, then widened her eyes when something clicked in her mind. "Wait, you say this 'influence' prevented you from developing succubus traits. So why isn't it preventing Naruto from developing incubus traits?" The others looked surprised now that they started to consider that.

"I've been asking myself that for days now, and I can't offer a concrete answer." Kushina replied. "But I do have one idea that might be the explanation."

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you're in the same situation I was in at your age. The only difference is I'm a female and you're a male. Maybe this 'influence' is more compatible with men than with women."

"What influence are you talking about?" Ino asked, not liking the feeling of being excluded from something everyone else knew.

Kushina turned away instead of answering, seeing a waitress being them their food. "After lunch when we have privacy we'll tell you, only if you can swear to keep it secret."

"You can trust me to keep it a secret." Isaribi said. "You guys helped me out dearly, the least I can do is keep a confidential secret."

"Good." Kushina said.

As they were all served, Ino had one thought. 'Am I really the only one here who can't be trusted to keep her mouth shut?'

* * *

><p>Lunch consisted mostly of eating and small talk, topics kept to safe public-appropriate topics. After it was paid for in a type of money only Kushina had on her, she led the group to one of the hotel rooms and knocked on the door.<p>

A man answered it wordlessly. He was dressed in a dark purple uniform that reminded the genin of Ibiki's outfit but without the trench cloak, and had a clean-cut hair style much like Hiashi's if he kept it short. However, his hair was bright cobalt blue and his clearly-visible ears were pointed.

"Ah, Lady Kushina, you've returned. I was almost afraid you would leave us."

"Like your army wouldn't be able to drag me back here if I tried Admiral Banfu."

The blue-haired man looked towards Naruto. "Is that the son you went to go find?" Suddenly he looked startled. "He's... is he really...?"

Kushina nodded. "Yes. I'm surprised too, but my son is an incubus."

"You're surprised?" Naruto asked. All this time she had barely acted surprised.

"Son, there's one thing about us I haven't mentioned yet. Incubi and succubi can breed with any sentient race, but when we do the offspring tends to be the same species as the other parent, not us. And I'm not talking about hybrids or hanyous or that sort of thing. The odds of you being born an incubus were slim, so all this time I thought you had been born as a human like your father. I was very surprised to see you took more after me in this sense, though I was also happy since it gave us something in common."

"Wait, you mean instead of being half-human half-incubus like normal genetics say he should be, Naruto is _all_ incubus?" Tsunade asked.

"That makes no sense." Shizune added.

"I wish I cold tell you why our DNA works this way, I really do, but I don't understand it either. From what I understand, no one does. It's an unexplained genetic quirk of our race, kind of like why scorpions glow under UV light."

"Don't forget the fact that the majority of infants in your species born are female." The blue-haired man added.

Kushina nodded. "True, succubi are more likely to be born than incubi. Even when the other parent isn't one of those. Naruto being an incubi when his father was a human... the odds were very unlikely. I honestly wasn't prepared for that outcome, but I'm not saddened to see it."

"If anything, this is a major blessing to our fair country." The blue-haired man added.

"Why?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Young man, at this moment, you are the only known incubus in all of Alfheim."

"The only one?" Ayame asked. "How is that possible? What happened to the rest of them?"

"That will have to wait for later. There's something that needs to be addressed first." Kushina stated. "Admiral Banfu, can you get us some of our best medics? I have two girls here in need of medical help."

"Finally." Tayuya commented, being supported by Tsunade at the moment. "I was beginning to feel a bit overlooked here."

"I believe that should be no problem, though they will have to give your son a physical to ensure he's healthy." Banfu stated.

Kushina nodded. "That can wait. My sister and the young girl in bandages need aide first."

The blue-haired man looked just as surprised to hear this as he did to hear about Naruto. "Your sister? You found one of the other missing heirs?"

Kushina shook her head. "No, she's not that type of sister. Her family took me in when I was taken away so she's my sister in all but blood. She is family and I insist she receive treatment so she can walk again. And help the bandaged girl too. She deserves the chance to regain normalcy."

"I'll see to it they get the best."

"Mind if I and my assistant be a part of this?" Tsunade asked. "We'd appreciate overseeing this process."

"I don't see why not if you're trained medics." Banfu told them.

"Rumored to be the best in Midgard." Kushina told him.

"Then yes. Their assistance could be quite helpful. I'll get in touch with them right away, but they may not show up until tonight at the earliest." Banfu said.

"We can wait." Kushina said.

"Easy for you to say." Tayuya argued, making Kushina silently chuckle.

* * *

><p>Kushina went with the elfish man, who turned out to be an actual elf, to contact some doctors. Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton, and Tayuya accompanied her to see for themselves what they people were like, mostly out of professional curiosity. Or in Tayuya's case personal reassurance.<p>

This left Naruto, Hinata, Isaribi, Sakura, Ino, Moegi, and Ayame alone in the hotel to kill time. Luckily the hotel management had no problem giving Kushina a few rooms for free for the night, which they all appreciated. At the moment all of them were in one room, because they needed to be together for what was about to happen.

Ayame looked at Ino and Isaribi, the only ones in the group unaware of Naruto's burden. Even Tayuya knew of it thanks to Orochimaru, and because of that she had first thought of him as a risk to be eliminated or avoided. Of course finding out he was also Kushina's son affected her perception of him, as did the fact he didn't do anything bad to her when she was at her most vulnerable even though he was more than justified in doing so.

"Ino, Isaribi, the odds are likely you're going to find out that secret about Naruto we've been keeping from you two sooner or later, and personally I'd prefer you'd hear it before someone else finds out and reveals it." Ayame started.

"Would anyone in this world even know?" Isaribi asked.

"I can't imagine they would, but it's not impossible. Kushina-sama has been here for years and she might have brought it up at some point. Either way, we can't keep it hidden from you two much longer." Ayame told her, then faced Naruto. "Naruto, maybe this time you should be the one to say it."

He first wanted to argue, but saw her point. He couldn't do it the other time because he was emotionally compromised, but now he wasn't, and he needed to learn to face this sort of problem himself if he ever wanted to be a leader. What leader can do anything except admit something unpleasant about themselves after all?

The whiskered blonde then looked at the platinum blonde and bandaged diver. "Ino-chan, Isaribi-chan, you already know about how I'm apparently the son of the Yondaime Hokage right?" They nodded, told that before they came to Alfheim since Ino was surprised Naruto had a living parent. "Ino-chan, do you remember me ever being treated like that back in Konoha?"

She didn't even have to think about it. "No, not once that I saw. But why would you have been? Nobody acted like they were even aware you were that."

"Doesn't that strike you as suspicious?" Ayame interjected. "Yondaime-sama was a very respected man. Do you really think he could have a son without _anyone_ knowing it? There are a lot of people in Konoha, surely _someone_ there had to know who Naruto's parents are."

Isaribi nodded. "You're right. Logically it would be impossible for no one to know."

"But then why wouldn't they tell anyone?" Ino asked. "Wouldn't they want everyone to know Yondaime-sama had a living son? If more people had known, maybe Naruto would have been somebody back home."

"Think about it Ino, why would someone stay silent?" Hinata asked.

Ino thought it over, but little came to her. "The only answer I came come up with is they didn't want Yondaime-sama's enemies to target Naruto."

Hinata shook her head. "That's a lousy answer. Even if his enemies did decide to target Naruto, would the village not defend him with all their might? I mean, when Kumo tried to kidnap me my clan acted on it right away. You really think that Konoha wouldn't be as quick to defend the Yondaime's son if he was in danger?"

"Unless they wanted him to be taken." Ayame added.

"Oh you're right." Hinata said back.

"Wait, _wanted_ him taken? Are you implying that Konoha wouldn't have cared about Naruto even if they _did_ know who his father was?" Ino asked.

Ayame nodded. "Yes, many would have done exactly that. To the majority, it doesn't matter where Naruto came from. Most people would deny the truth because accepting it would mean admitting they were wrong about him and they've been dishonoring the Yondaime instead of avenging him. Any who would accept the truth would be admitting they are shallow and judge a child's worth based on the identity of the parent and not the child itself."

"But why?" Ino asked. "I mean, I know he's not the most liked person in town, but for days you guys have talked like this about him and not said one word why. Tell me dammit! If he is the Yondaime's son and someone knew it, then why would the rest of Konoha want him dead? Why would they care? Why wouldn't they think he's just another orphan and leave him alone?"

Naruto sighed, regaining her attention. "It's because of what he did when he got rid of the Kyuubi."

"The kyuubi?" Ino asked. Isaribi just listened, not aware of the story since ninja stories for the most part don't spread outside their respective villages.

"Yes. We were lied to. He didn't make it disappear. He had to seal it away. But he didn't seal it in a scroll or a metal jar or anything like that. He sealed it... inside me." Naruto admitted. Ino and Isaribi had wide eyes to hear this, and he continued while he had the chance. "The Kyuubi is trapped, unable to leave or do anything to me or thru me, mostly it's just a large chakra reserve for me. But many of Konoha's civilians and some of the ninja too are convinced I am the fox or will lose control of it any second."

"So they want you dead or gone settle their fears of you?" Isaribi asked. 'It kind of reminds me of my own situation, just much worse.'

Naruto nodded. "Yes. Worst part is I wasn't even aware of this until I was twelve and was tricked into almost helping a traitor of the village steal something valuable."

Isaribi looked a bit reassured now. "And yet you still go out of your way to help people. If I had been you, I might have gone bat-shit crazy and killed someone."

Ino still looked unsettled, and suddenly bolted upright and ran from the room.

"Ino!" Everyone shouted, but she didn't turn back.

Sakura got up. "I'll go after her. Maybe I can get thru to her." They nodded and she left.

Naruto hung his head. "I should have known she'd hate me."

Hinata hugged Naruto from behind to comfort him. "If she does, then too bad for her. It's not like anyone here will let her do anything about it."

* * *

><p>"Ino!" Sakura said loudly as she caught up to her fleeing friend just outside the hotel, grabbing her arm to keep her from running.<p>

"Let me go Sakura."

"No. Now tell me what your problem is. You don't actually believe Naruto is the Kyuubi do you?" Sakura insisted, making the platinum blonde face her.

"How can we know that for sure?" was the first thing to pop out of her mouth.

Sakura frowned. "I can prove it to you. How many times have you seen me hit Naruto?"

"Too many to count."

Sakura nodded. "Now tell me, why would the most powerful demon known to mankind let a mere girl like me hit him and live to keep doing it?"

"Well he was sweet on you for a time before Hinata got his attention." Ino suggested.

"Even then, why would the Kyuubi be interested in me like that?"

Ino threw up her hands. "I don't know. Look, I admit it's too unlikely for Naruto's personality to be Kyuubi's too, but how can we know he really can't be controlled by the fox? Does he seem like the strong-willed type to you?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. He has the strongest will I've ever seen, and you would see that too if you bothered to see it."

Ino frowned. "And why should I take your word for it Forehead? Just a month ago you couldn't stand the sight of Naruto and now that Sasuke's no longer Prince Charming you decide Naruto has appeal to you? Face it Billboard Brow, if Sasuke hadn't gone off on you like that you'd be with him, not here."

Sakura's resolve falter for a moment and Ino took the opportunity to build her momentum up. "Don't bother trying to argue it. We both know it's true. Sasuke's always been your top priority, even more than our friendship. You know as well as I do that if you knew all this stuff about Naruto _before_ Sasuke broke your heart, it still wouldn't have meant that much to you."

Sakura frowned a bit with small tears in her eyes. "Maybe you're right Ino, but I'm not that way anymore."

"What changed? Tell me Sakura, what exactly made you want to be different?" Ino pressed. "Did you decide to settle for the silver since you couldn't get the gold? Did hearing about other people hurting him suddenly make you feel guilty about doing the same? Or is it because he now likes Hinata and not you?"

"None of those. I'm not that shallow." The pinkette said.

"Then what is it? Because unless you've got a thing for men with trauma in their pasts, from what I can tell those are the only answers." The mindwalker pressed.

"It's because I don't deserve him." Sakura answered, surprising Ino. "You were right about one thing Ino, I do feel guilty about hurting him so much, especially now that I know why everyone else did. Any normal person in Naruto's shoes would want me dead, but even you must see that he still values me as a friend. I'm very, very grateful for that, but I don't deserve to be his friend. I owe Naruto for being such a bitch to him, and I intend on making it up to him by being his friend and anything else he needs me to be."

Ino just stared at her, all fear of the situation gone. "And you have complete faith Naruto isn't going to lose control of the fox and endanger us all?"

Sakura nodded without hesitation. "Yes."

Ino blinked. "Sakura, what makes you so certain of that? I want to believe you, I really do want to believe that Naruto is no threat, but... how I can not be afraid of the worst?"

"Think about who Naruto was before you knew all this. Did you back then have reason to believe he'd kill you? The boy who defended Hinata's honor even before she became his girlfriend? The boy who stood up to Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and the sand-user during the invasion? The boy who brought Tsunade-sama back to our village when we needed her the most? Are you really going to forget all that now? And if that's not enough for you, then consider this. You heard them say people have been trying to kill Naruto for years. If he was going to lose control to the Kyuubi, wouldn't he have done it by now?"

Ino's eyes widened. "You... you're right. That makes too much sense to ignore." She sighed. "I messed up, didn't I?"

"No, not yet. If you go back and tell everyone you're not afraid anymore, I'm sure you'll be forgiven."

"I sure hope so."

The two girls walked back in, and saw everyone look at Ino expectantly, though Hinata's gaze was the hardest. Ino looked at Naruto, seeing fear in his eyes. "Naruto, I was worried for a moment, but Sakura reminded me that the only ones who should be afraid of you are your enemies, not your friends. I know I'm not much of a friend, but as long as I'm here, I would like to try to be one."

The whiskered blonde smiled, fear leaving his eyes. "Thanks Ino."

Ayame smiled. "Good, now that that's cleared up, let's unwind and relax. Any ideas?"

"I saw this hotel has a pool. How about we go swimming?" Isaribi offered.


	19. Chapter 19

_Recommended Story: 'Do I Have A Purpose Anymore?' by Kingkakashi_

Chapter Nineteen

In a private sector of a hospital several physicians were looking over Tayuya as she laid on a table. Tsunade and Shizune were among them, but the other three were natives of Alfheim. As a show of courtesy all the doctors here were female, especially since it was heard that the patient was Kushina's sister.

"Can you make me walk again?" Tayuya immediately asked.

"We should, but first we must see the extent of the damage so we know what to prepare." The head doctor said. She was a brown-haired succubus that looked like she was in her early twenties, though her glasses did make her look a little older. She was dressed in a professional white overcoat and a visible orange blouse under it, but what was weird about her were the black leather boots she wore under her black skirt. Her name tag read 'Iyoi.'

Her two assistants flipped her over on her stomach so they could check her back directly. One was a succubus with wavy long blonde hair wearing a red nurse uniform and a name tag saying 'Meo'. The other was a green-haired elf woman who looked younger than she probably was because she was so short, wearing a blue nurse uniform and a name tag saying 'Kiha'.

Iyoi placed her hand over Tayuya's back and closed her eyes. "Tubues ya zu y'je omkitoud ag y'jod qutdam." Her palms glowed a greenish white and it glow extended to Tayuya's body and spread over it. "Hmm... the damage is mostly internal." Iyoi said with her eyes still closed.

"I could have fucking told ya that." Tayuya declared.

"Hush, I'm not finished. Something feels like it's fighting me so let me concentrate." Iyoi insisted, eyes still closed. "Several of the vertebrae are fractured and damage has been done to the spinal cord itself. The bones in the hips and legs are filled with compound fractures as well and signs of muscle tears are abundant. There also appears to be a lot of damage to some of the abdominal organs though nothing looks like it isn't still working. I do see that the appendix has burst but no traces of poisoning can be found so I'm assuming something filtered that out."

Tsunade wanted to ask for further examination on that since she knew a burst appendix was very bad, but she didn't want to interrupt the doctor and let her continue.

The glow stopped and Iyoi opened her eyes, looking to Kushina and Tsunade. "As you can tell the damage was quite extensive. The spine wasn't actually severed but the adjoining nerves are a mess, numbed if you will. She can still move her legs and feet, but the nerves are barely sending the signals to her muscles at all. Not only that, her leg bones can't support her weight right now. Right now a puppet with only one string has an easier time standing up than she does."

"Can it be fixed?" Kushina asked.

"I don't want to promise anything, but fortunately I can try. Though that strange sensation of resistance does have me worried." Iyoi said. Meo turned away and grabbing a book off a shelf then brought it to her. "I'll just have to look in here."

"Can't you just chant for the damage to be healed?" Tsunade asked.

Kiha shook her head. "It's not that easy. Ambiguity in medical spells is never a good idea. Besides, I'm not sure a cure-all spell ever existed."

"We should start simple and work our way up." Meo added.

* * *

><p>The rest of the group from Konoha, including Isaribi, were trying to have some fun in the pool of the hotel. Ino had to buy a swimsuit in the gift shop and found a teal one piece that reminded her of the one she had back home. The others already had ones thanks to their time in Sea Country, though Isaribi decided to just swim in her normal clothes like she always did.<p>

Everyone changed separately so Sakura and Ino were surprised by two things they saw by the pool. The first they noticed was Naruto without a shirt on.

'Wow, he looks better than I thought he did.' Sakura thought, appreciating the view. 'And to think I once thought all that time training would do him no good. If those abs aren't good nothing is.'

'Whoa, not bad.' Ino thought, not expecting the physique he had. 'I mean he's not ripped or buff or anything like that, but still he's the closest thing to a hunk I've ever seen in real life.'

The second surprise they got was seeing Hinata in her swimsuit, a dark purple one piece.

'No far, the shy quiet girl gets the better chest?' Ino grumbled mentally, sneaking a peek at her own bosom and feeling cheated. 'I've done every exercise and remedy I've heard of and I'm still only a large A-cup. What's her secret?'

Sakura was also disappointed in herself in comparison to the more gifted girl. 'Naruto's never going to think of me as pretty again, not when she's so much better looking than me.'

The others were oblivious to the thoughts of those two. Hinata was openly appreciating the whiskered blonde's appearance even though she was still shy about showing him exactly what she hid under her baggy clothes, despite the fact she was still covered.

She walked up to Naruto who was sitting at the edge of the pool with only his legs in the water. Isaribi and Moegi were already in the water while Ayame was floating on it instead on an inflatable mat acting as chaperone and working on her tan. Ino and Sakura were at the other side of the pool, just watching them.

"They sure look happy together don't they?" Ino whispered to her friend, a bit more interested in watching than swimming at the moment.

Sakura nodded, trying to smile. "Yeah, I'm happy for them both. Hinata's wanted this for as long as I've known her, and Naruto deserves a girl like her."

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Ino asked, not trying to tease the pinkette.

"What?" Sakura asked, surprised to hear that.

"Admit it, you wish Naruto was looking at you the way he's looking at Hinata. I've seen the way you've been looking at him these past few days. You've finally warmed up to him." The platinum blonde stated. "Too bad it didn't happen sooner."

"I just told you I'm happy for them so why would you say that?" Sakura asked, trying to keep her voice down so no one would hear them.

"I'm not hearing a 'no'." Ino pointed out.

"You coming in?" Naruto called out to them. They saw he and Hinata were now in the pool playing a form of volleyball against Isaribi and Moegi with a beach ball and Ayame serving as a psuedo-net.

"Yeah, we'll be right in." Ino called back, then leaned towards Sakura. "I'll let you be on his team." And before her friend could respond Ino jumped in the pool.

'Why is she messing with me?' Sakura asked herself. 'I mean, yeah I do wish I hadn't been so myopic before and Naruto still...' She paused as realization kicked in, making her feel a bit ashamed of herself. 'Who am I kidding? She's right, I _am_ jealous. But I'm not going to ruin it for them.'

"Excuse me." Someone called out from behind Sakura. She turned to see a short-haired brunette girl about her own age, only much more developed than even Hinata and with succubus features apparent, dressed in a red two-piece swimsuit that Sakura wouldn't exactly call a bikini. More of a one-piece with the mid-section cut away.

"Yes?" Sakura replied.

"Hi, my name is Rika. I'm sorry for intruding but I couldn't help but notice that when it came to your group one of your auras felt different from the others." she then pointed to Naruto, who was playing with the others. "Him, his unusual aura caught my eye for a second. Could you please tell me what he is exactly?"

"He's my friend." She answered, merely to test this girl's reaction.

"Oh I didn't mean like that. I mean what's his species? It almost looks human but not entirely." Rika clarified.

"For the most part he is human. But I'm told he's awakening as an incubus." Sakura answered.

Rika jerked. "Did you say... incubus?"

"Yeah." Now Sakura was cautious. "Why? Is that a problem?"

Rika's eyes seemed glazed over a bit as she kept her focus on Naruto. There was even a bit of a smile on her. "Oh the others have got to hear this." She then darted off back into the hotel.

'That was weird.' Sakura thought before she entered the water and joined in on the game.

Not one minute later the pool was surrounded by a dozen girls much like Rika, staring intently at Naruto.

"Hey incubus, can we see your traits?" A redhead succubus asked.

"Umm... okay." Naruto said nervously, but he revealed his tail and wings.

"It's true! A real incubus is here!" One of the girls shouted, but she sounded please instead of shocked.

"This has to be a sign from the gods. Why else would there be an incubus when we're here?" The redhead asked, to which all the others nodded.

"Umm... am I missing something here?" Naruto asked.

"Please come with us. We promise you'll have a great time." Rika offered.

Hinata glared at them all. "Stay away! He's MY boyfriend!"

"You really think a single human girl like yourself can please an incubus better than we succubi can?" A brunette with a ponytail asked.

"She's no threat. There's twelve of us and one of her, and incubi can't help but be drawn to succubi like us. He won't stick with just her for long, especially once the Frenzy starts."

"Why would I leave her for complete strangers?" Naruto asked.

"It's in your nature to want a succubus, like it's in our nature to want an incubus." Rika told him. "Now please, we've come all this way for our Frenzy. Please be a part of it. It would be very appreciated."

Ayame, having enough of this, jumped from her mat and landed in front of Rika since she was the last to speak. "We're not exactly from around these parts so we're a little uninformed on what it is you're talking about. Now what exactly do you want with my little brother?" Her words were kind but her tone and expression were firm and ready to fight if needed.

"It's almost time of our Frenzy, the time we succubi become mature adult women and experience a brief time of strong nymphomania that will kill us if the urge is not sated. Nothing satisfies a succubus more than an incubus so we're very hopeful he would be kind enough to help us in our hard time."

"So you're all about to become really horny and you want him to be the one to get you all off?" Ayame asked. Behind her Hinata and Sakura were by Naruto as if to keep the other girls from approaching him.

"We'll be glad to return the favor when it's his Frenzy." The succubus to Rika's left said.

"His Frenzy?" Ayame repeated.

"Yeah, the same thing happens to incubi too. You didn't know that?"

"I'm still learning. So you're saying he's going to experience this uncontrolled rush of nymphomania that will kill him if he doesn't get with someone intimately?" They all nodded. "And at his age?"

"Our kind finish puberty at age twelve or thirteen. We're all close to finishing too and that's when the Frenzy hits. We're here from out of town to find men to help us when it hits and we were surprised to see an incubus here. Please, he would help us greatly." Rika told her.

"Does it have to be him?" Ayame stressed.

"No, but it would be better for us if it were him."

"Why?" Ayame asked.

"Enough talking. Boy come with us. You won't regret it." The redhead succubus interjected.

"I really don't want to." Naruto said.

The redhead smirked. "Then I guess we're just going to have to make you want to."

* * *

><p>The medics had been at it for hours, trying various spells to repair bone fractures, reveres muscle atrophy, and strengthen the nerves. But unfortunately something kept interfering with their progress, effectively reversing their effects.<p>

"Dammit, what the hell is this?" Iyoi said, gripping the side of the table.

"Whatever it is, this rune on her collarbone reacts with it." Meo pointed out.

"Rune?" Tsunade asked.

"This mark that looks like a trinity symbol of some sort." The red nurse said before moving Tayuya's shirt aside to reveal Orochimaru's curse seal.

"I'm afraid that's no mere mark. It's called a curse seal, and it's a very nasty thing."

"How so?" Iyoi asked.

"All I can say for certain is that it gives the one bearing it a secondary source of energy and even the ability to shapeshift into a gruelsome secondary form. But it's also meant so the one who placed it on her can keep tabs on her and punish her if she displeases him. Like an enslavement seal."

"That's it in a nutshell." Tayuya commented. "I'm actually surprised the motherfucker himself hasn't done anything to me over the past few days."

"Maybe it's not that he won't but rather he can't." Shizune theorized.

"Either way, whatever kind of secondary energy this mark is giving off, it's countering our spells. I'm afraid that as long as it's there we can't heal her." Iyoi said.

"Unfortunately we haven't yet figured out how to remove it." Shizune said.

"Wait a minute." Tsunade interjected. "If the mark counteracts your medical spells, then why was Kushina able to heal her to some degree before now?"

Iyoi shrugged. "I understand this mark even less than you do so I cannot possibly answer that. For all I know the mark doesn't waste it's time on small-scale spells but for big ones it fights."

"So what if you did a series of small scale spells to heal her little by little?" Kushina asked.

"Any smaller a scale than we have been doing and we'd have to repair each and every crack on the bone or tear in the muscle one by one. No doctor in the world would have the patience to do such a treatment. And even if one did, the effort it would take to ensure all damage was done and no sequel injuries occurred would take... I'm guessing no less than several weeks even if they worked twelve hours a day."

"I sure as hell don't have the patience for that." Tayuya declared.

"Anyway, my recommendation is to remove this mark. Do either of you know how?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I have no clue."

Kushina looked at her sister worried. "I'm a little out of practice with this sort of thing, but I've been trying to figure it out since I saw it. Unfortunately I still haven't figured out how to remove it either. But I get the feeling it could possibly be overpowered."

"Overpowered you say?" Iyoi thought. "Meo, Kiha, we should look at the book again. Maybe we can overpower this thing."

The three medics started to diligently look thru the book, trying to find anything that could help them.

"What about that turn into a succubus thing you mentioned?" Shizune asked Kushina.

The medics immediately looked at Kushina. "What?"

"It was the only possibility that came to mind. I'm not sure it would work, but from what I heard of that spell I did have reason to believe it was an option." Kushina explained. "Am I wrong?"

Iyoi tried to recall it. "I'm not positive, but you may been onto something. Let me check then compare." She and her assistants went back to the book.

* * *

><p>With so many girls surrounding the pool, Naruto didn't see a way to escape. Until he remembered he didn't have to take the direct route.<p>

A quick substitution with a poolside chair and some quick dashing and Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"What the heck?"

"He's hiding from us. Find him!"

The succubi crowd scattered, intent on finding their lone male counterpart.

Sakura turned to Hinata. "Hinata can you-?"

"Byakugan." She said, activating her doujutsu and scanning the area for her loved one. "I found him, but we have to move fast."

The girls nodded and rushed away from the pool following Hinata, apparently back into the hotel.

'Apparently there's still more Kushina-sama hasn't told us yet.' Ayame thought as they moved. 'We need to sit her down and get it all out in the open rather than wait until the subject comes up again.'

Everyone noticed that Hinata led them back to their room but instead of opening the door she knocked. "Naruto-kun, it's me, Hinata. And those girls aren't here. Please unlock the door."

There was no answer.

"What's he doing?" Moegi asked.

"He's got the door locked and the curtains shut. He's crouched on the bed curled up like a frightened hedgehog." Hinata explained, scaring the girls. She knocked again, a little louder this time. "Naruto-kun, please let me in."

"Go away Hinata-chan. I don't want to hurt you." He could be heard saying.

"You could never hurt me Naruto-kun." She told him.

"Yes I can. You heard what those girls said about me. I'm a monster."

Sakura looked confused. "Where's he getting that from?"

"Only one way to find out." Ayame said, then leaned down to whisper. "Girls, I need all of you to wait out here and anyone unknown from getting in. Hinata and I will go inside and try to comfort him."

"Why only you two?" Sakura asked.

"Because the two of us have a way with Naruto that the rest of you don't. And if he's worried about what I think he is, then we're the best ones to cover the subject. Moegi's too young, Isaribi doesn't know him well enough, and you two from what I'm told are a bit biased on the subject."

"What subject?" Sakura added.

"We'll discuss this later. Naruto needs our help first." Ayame said before she pulled out a needle and started to pick at the lock. At a few clicks were heard, the door opened. Ayame gave everyone a brief look before she and Hinata went inside and relocked it.

Once inside Hinata immediately hugged Naruto from behind despite his still revealed wings. "How many times do I have to tell you you're not a monster before you believe it?"

"It doesn't matter anymore." He replied, sounding so hopeless.

Ayame sat in front of him. "Why do you say that?"

"You heard those girls. I'm about to become a pervert whether I like it or not."

"How does that make you a monster?" Ayame asked, not following his logic.

"How does it not?" The whiskered blonde asked back. "My whole life people have been saying perverts are the worst kind of people and there's absolutely nothing good about one. No one likes a pervert and no one would want one as Hokage, so my dream is destroyed and any chance I had at being liked is gone forever. At this point I might as well be Kyuubi."

Both girls were wide-eyed to hear this. "Naruto-kun, you don't really believe that do you?"

He slowly turned to face the pale-eyed girl, his own eyes brimming with fear and self-loathing. "Hinata-chan, what reason do I have to believe otherwise?"

"Naruto-kun, do you trust me?" She asked him.

He didn't answer right away. "Yes, but-"

"No buts Naruto-kun." She told him. "Naruto-kun, if you truly trust me, then listen to what I'm going to tell you."

"If I were you Naruto, I would listen. All she wants is to help you." Ayame suggested.

When he didn't say anything, Hinata made her argument. "Naruto-kun, while it is true there are things about perversion that are not good, there are things about it that are good. No don't argue with me here, just listen." She said when it looked like he was going to object. "Perversion done the right way can be an expression of love. Boyfriends and girlfriends, and husbands and wives, they can do things that to others would be perverted, but to them are how they show the other they love them and find them attractive."

"But... but how can something so hated possibly be okay?" Naruto asked, still not seeing a possibility there.

Hinata placed her hand on his cheek. "You were hated a lot, but you are a good person with many things about you that others can appreciate, right?" He nodded. "Perversion is the same. There are many things about you that are enjoyable, but some people just focus on the unsavory parts. Don't be like those fools who only saw what not to like. Try and see what there is to like. I know you can do it, all you have to do is try."

"Umm... okay? But Hinata-chan, what could be good about it?" He asked.

"For one thing, we can't ever have a family without it." She answered, blushing lightly.

He looked confused. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Now Ayame looked confused. "Naruto, weren't you ever given the talk?"

"What talk?"

Ayame sighed. "Oh boy, they hurt you worst than even I expected. Fortunately we can correct this." She then sat down next to him. "Naruto, there's a few things every adult must know. This might bother you, but you need to know them before it's too late."

From there, Ayame gave Naruto the knowledge so many in Konoha didn't want him to have.

* * *

><p>"Boss will be alright, right?" Moegi asked while they waited.<p>

"I'm sure he will." Sakura told the girl.

"Out of curiosity, why do you call Naruto Boss?" Ino asked.

"At first it was because my friend Konohamaru called him that and it kind of rubbed off on me. But then I got kidnapped by an enemy nin just before the chuunin exams and he saved me and brought me home. From that moment on I swore I'd follow him anywhere." The orange-haired girl explained.

"The fact that you're here is proof of that." Isaribi mentioned.

"And why does your friend call him Boss?" Ino added.

"Because Boss inspired him like no one else ever did. You may think of him as an idiot, but at least he knows what he wants out of life and how to get it. Can you three say the same?"

"I just want to go back to my old life." Isaribi answered.

"I thought I knew what I wanted but now I'm not so sure." Sakura admitted.

Ino didn't respond right away. "To be honest, I just figured it would come to me as I got older. So far I've just been trying to enjoy the present."

Moegi nodded. "See? Boss has a dream and he's always working towards it. That makes him stronger than you since you're just coasting, waiting for things to come to you. So don't talk about him like I shouldn't respect him."

"I wasn't-" Ino stated, but was cut off by the door opening. All four girls looked to see Ayame at the doorway. "Is he okay?"

"He's better, but we really need to see his mother. There are a few things he needs to know now that only she can explain."


	20. Chapter 20

_Recommended Story: 'New Chance' by Hektols, possibly the most reviewed Naruto fanfic of all._

Chapter Twenty

"How long will they have to look for the right spell to use?" Shizune asked as she, Tsunade, and Kushina all left the examination room to go get some coffee. Not to mention that sitting around while medics looked thru books made them bored and restless, and Tayuya's impatience wasn't making them be any more patient either.

"Hard to say. I was only taught a few basic spells to make me help in fights and heal those around me. Spells of this caliber are beyond me." Kushina said.

"Never really thought of you as the type to be a medic nin Kushina." Tsunade joked.

"Attack and healing spells are the easiest ones to learn." The redhead explained. "Pretty common among those allowed to use mana here."

"Does this world have something similar to a ninja system?" Shizune asked.

Kushina took a sip of her drink before she answered. "Not exactly. The best way I could describe it is more of a samurai system, and even that's not entirely accurate. Let's sit down so I can describe it in better detail."

The others nodded and all three took a seat, waiting for Kushina to tell them another thing they needed to know.

"While I've been trapped in this world, I did spend time learning the history of it. It's similar to our own in a way. Hmm... even with me being born here in Alfheim, I'll always think of the Elemental Nations as my real home."

"I wouldn't blame you. You were raised there after all." Tsunade stated.

Kushina nodded. "Okay, here the ruling class is made up of a man called a king and a woman called a queen. Either one can rule the country, called a kingdom, but usually the king has the more power of the two, though in his absence the queen gains all his authority. Heirs for the throne are mandatory and there are plenty of rules set to determine just who gains control in the event of no ruler. These customs and rules are different for each kingdom, but usually it's based on heredity."

"Like the daimyo systems of our world." Tsunade clarified.

"Yes, just like that. Now, instead of ninjas or even samurais they have several classes of warriors, mostly called knights or archers. Knights are like samurais, armored and trained in weapon combat and above all else meant to be noble and loyal to the king and kingdom. They are so much like samurai that if you were to have a knight and samurai switch armor you'd never be able to tell which they were originally. Archers are the long-range warriors mainly used for defensive purposes. The closest thing to ninja here are a type of mercenary called rangers, which are eerily like ninja except no one in this world decided to make an army out of them."

Tsunade and Shizune nodded while Kushina continued. "The royal class don't keep their armies in just one city like we do. Instead they have it spread out around the country to be ready at any given time. These armies are stationed and housed in locals usually run by military officials acting as heads of that division of the military. These rulers are called generals and keep everyone in order with a systematic ranking system much like the ninja ranking system, only more specialized."

"How is mana different than jutsu?" Shizune asked.

"Jutsu is done by molding chakra and performing a set of recognized hand signs. Spells are done by channeling mana and saying a specific phrase in an archaic language unique only to Alfheim and is now considered a dead language like Latin. So in a way mana spells are easier to use than jutsu, as long as you have a good memory and proper pronunciation."

"Can you make anything happen this way?" Tsunade asked.

"I think in principle you could, but it's not that easy. Not anymore. The language is dead and most of the words from it gone. You can't make an incantation if you don't know the right words to use after all. As a result, mana usage has become limited, sort of like if only six hand signs were known to ninja instead of twelve."

Tsunade ahhed silently. "That would severely limit what all ninja could learn."

Kushina nodded. "We have scholars working year round to find more words so we can have more ways to use mana, but it's slow work from what I'm told. What I was taught is actually commonly known among others, and it takes a lot of repetition and will power to make it work. Of course, once you get it right it's much easier to use later on."

"That makes sense. And at least you have access to professionals here." Tsunade said, making Kushina nod.

The chat from there became more friendly, mostly catching up on old times. It didn't last long, for Ayame came down the hall, dressed in her chuunin outfit, and stood in front of Kushina.

"Can I help you Ayame-chan?" The redhead asked.

"Yes, your son needs you right now. Some succubi girls tried to ambush him and he's frightened by what they wanted. Time for you to tell him everything about being an incubus, and I mean _everything._"

Kushina stood up. "Is something wrong?"

"You tell me. I don't know anything about a so-called frenzy."

Kushina jerked in surprise. "Nothing's happening to him right now is it?"

"No, but he needs to know what to expect. Not only that, he's been completely denied the sex talk to begin with. I just now had to tell him everything I know about it, and boy was his face red. As his mother and the only one here informed about his species, you need to inform him on the parts I couldn't." Ayame stated.

Kushina looked towards where Tayuya's room was then looked back to Ayame and nodded. "You're right, I do need to before the Frenzy hits him. I just wanted him to get used to his situation first. Let me leave a message for the medics then I'll go help my son."

Ayame nodded. Kushina grabbed a memo pad and scribbled a note saying she'd return to check up on Tayuya in three hours. Then she left with Ayame, Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton to return to the hotel.

When they got to the room Kushina saw everyone inside seated around Naruto but he was looking away, as if trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. "Naruto?" Kushina asked.

The whiskered blonde slowly turned to look at her, his eyes filled. "Tell me it's not true. Tell me I'm not about to become some pervert."

"Girls, please go out in the hall for a little while." The Uzumaki matriarch requested.

Everyone there shook their heads. "We've got questions too about this. We're not going anywhere."

"You sure about this? I mean, it's not something girls like to hear."

"It can't be worse than the talk our parents gave us." Ino stated, remembering her mother telling her what becoming a woman entailed.

"And since we're going to be around Naruto-kun for a long time, we should know what's going to happen to him so we can help him get thru it." Hinata added.

"Good point, though I suggest she at least leave since she's young." Kushina said, pointing at Moegi.

"I know about sex already. My mother gave me the talk already." She informed them all, looking a little sad at mentioning her dead mother.

"Already? At the age of ten?" Kushina asked, surprised to hear that.

Moegi nodded. "Apparently I'm what Okaa-san called an 'early bloomer'."

"Oh, so you've already had your first time?" Hinata asked, also being an early bloomer though she didn't start this young but rather at the age of eleven.

Moegi nodded and Sakura looked confused. "Wait, how can that be? Girls don't start that until they're twelve."

"That's only the average age Sakura." Tsunade told the pinkette. "Some girls do start earlier than that. It's not impossible."

"Start what?" Naruto asked, completely lost.

"It's a girl thing you wouldn't want to know about." Isaribi told him.

"Oh you mean that bleeding thing?" He asked, remembering one of the things Ayame told him before she left to go get his mother.

The diver nodded. "Yeah."

"Don't worry about it Naruto. We're here for you to learn something else." Ayame told her surrogate brother then faced his mother. "Kushina, tell him everything he needs to know about being an incubus."

The older woman nodded. "Alright then, I was hoping this could wait until we were in a more comfortable situation but if you did experience what Ayame said you did, then I can't procrastinate any more." She paused to make sure everyone was paying attention to her, because she didn't want to say this more than once.

"Now, to understand what I'm going to tell you, you have to understand a little bit about my species biology. But that can wait for a little while. Naruto, when you hear the word puberty, what comes to mind?" She asked, trying to get an idea on how much she had to teach him.

"Ayame-neechan told me it's when boys become men and girls become women." He answered.

"Good. Did she tell you what changes occur?" Kushina nodded.

"Yeah, though it's hard to believe girls can actually bleed _there_ for days and not die from it." Naruto replied.

"That's good that you now know this. Now, incubi experience it a little differently than normal human boys. Instead of starting it at twelve or thirteen like normal humans, incubi start at roughly ten and end it at thirteen. Succubus like me usually start at nine or ten and end it at roughly twelve or thirteen too."

"That soon?" Tsunade asked. "Not much time to be children eh?"

"No, it's not our nature. But there are advantages to it, though I'll get to that after this. Now Naruto, for our kind we experience it much like humans, but in a different way with some new features. The first sign of puberty for both genders is the growth of the tail. The wings grow in a year later. The year after that, succubi grow breasts and their hips widen while incubi get a little more muscular and larger 'boy parts'. Finally, the process comes to an end at the age of twelve or thirteen with something called the Frenzy."

Everyone listened in more about this part.

"Here's where things get complicated. To truly understand the Frenzy, you need to understand a little about incubi/succubi biolgy. Like the other races of Alfheim, we generate mana, not chakra. As a species though, we've got a problem with our hormonal glands and systems. It's sort of an imbalance in function, not without benefit though. This biological quirk grants us a long lifespan of about 130 where we die of old age and it's not until around 110 when we even hit menopause."

"Seriously?" Tsunade asked, shocked by this.

Kushina nodded. "Yes. While a human your age has difficulty conceiving, a succubus your age could do it without problem and keep doing it for a few more decades."

Tsunade looked impressed. "Interesting."

"Another benefit of this is a sort of one-person-only kekkei genkai, always unpredictable when growing up but still there. It's most often called a Gift here, and it appears after the wings but before the Frenzy. My Gift is my ability to create chains from my body. Even though having Kyuubi in my body did screw up my puberty growing up and I didn't get wings or a tail until the fox was removed, I somehow did get my Gift. I don't understand it either."

"Wait, you had the Kyuubi in you? Before Naruto did?" Ino asked.

"Yeah. It had to be somewhere didn't it?" The redhead asked back.

Ino looked at Naruto then back to his mother. 'If the fox was in her before him, and things were okay for Konoha except for one moment, I guess I really don't have anything to be afraid of regarding him.'

"Anyway, the hormonal imbalance that gives us these traits also comes with a price." Kushina added, getting back on topic. "The first trait that could be considered negative is early puberty, but the Frenzy is the main one, as well as later smaller frenzies. To the incubi/succubi, this isn't a negative thing, just a natural part of their lifestyle no more negative then having periods is. But from our Midgardian perspective, it's not that normal."

"Now, like I told you all not too long ago, our race needs regular orgasms to maintain a sense of self-control and without it our mana goes haywire. This hormone imbalance is the cause of it. The hormones sort of build up and start affecting our ability to control our own mana or rationality. It works slowly, but if left unchecked it becomes a big problem until we stop acting like ourselves. That is what the Frenzy is in a nutshell, a warning that we've gone too long without balancing our hormones out. It's much worse in incubi since testosterone is a much more aggressive hormone than estrogen is. A succubus only experiences a Frenzy just two times a year, but an incubus experiences six."

"So how have you been managing all this time?" Tsunade asked.

"I'd rather not answer that in front of my son, but rest assured I've had no man in my life since Minato and no plans to replace him. Let's just say my times of self-control were handled by myself, and it took a lot of work."

Getting the message, the older women nodded while the some of the younger ones pieced it together and the rest were still confused.

"Taking care of the problem is easy, but if it's not taken care of, things get bad. For succubi, we experience a sort of self-induced drunkenness we never sober up from and it only gets worse until we become physically ill then pass out and fall into a coma that could kill us in days. For incubi, they become more irritable and volatile until they end up becoming like wild rampaging animals that destroy anything and anyone in front of them, until they have heart attacks from the anger and excitement."

Everyone gasped, and Hinata held onto Naruto as if afraid something was going to happen to him otherwise.

"This is where the Frenzy comes in. The Frenzy is a sign that this is about to happen unless we balance ourselves out with a couple of orgasms in the next few hours, and by this point we really need more than just one. The Frenzy is also a sign of the body's reproductive organs gaining the ability to work. It means boys can create sperm and girls can get pregnant. But in this time, the hormonal imbalance is at it's highest in the person's entire life, lasting roughly four hours, give or take. This time is called the Frenzy, and is when the body of an incubus or succubus becomes fertile and sexually ready. And is of course the only time either gender even can reproduce."

"Wait a minute, you mean those girls we saw not only wanted to have sex with Naruto, they wanted him to knock them up?" Sakura asked.

"Unless they took birth control measures beforehand, then yes." Kushina answered.

"Why? I don't want to be a father yet." Naruto stated. "And even if I did, I'd rather it be with someone I knew and cared about, like Hinata-chan. Hell, I'd be happier having Sakura-chan have my baby instead of those strangers."

Both named girls blushed, unable to stop themselves from picturing themselves having a blonde baby in their arms now that he mentioned it.

"Well Naruto, here's one more thing you should know. The imbalance has another benefit and side effect regarding our reproductive abilities. The benefit is we can interbreed with any other humanoid race. Humans, elves, dwarfs, people like that. This is why even though I wasn't human like your father, he and I could have you, and you and your girlfriend would be able to have children of your own someday." Both Naruto and Hinata turned bright red, amusing Kushina a bit. "The problem is two-fold though, first being that in these cases the child takes more after the other parent, meaning your children with Hinata are more likely to be human like her than incubus/succubus like you. Second being that girls are much more common than boys, meaning you're much more likely to have daughters than sons."

"How much more common are girls born than boys?" Sakura curiously asked.

"Usually only one out of ten births are male. And in interspecies conception, one out of ten are of our race. At max ten percent of our race is male and the remaining ninety percent female, on average. Right now though due to a recent war, Naruto is the only known male of our race in the world."

"Were they all killed off?" Isaribi asked.

Kushina nodded. "It was a terrible massacre that wiped them all out. We've been trying to get some new ones born, but because of the unique conditions of our birth rates, all we've gotten are more succubi. All of the few male children born took more after their fathers. The one thing working in our favor is the long rate of fertility of the succubi."

"Meaning?" Tsunade asked.

"Succubi are capable of conceiving only twice a year, and are pregnant for nine weeks instead of nine months."

"Nine weeks?" All the girls asked in disbelief.

Kushina nodded. "Yes, and when they conceive they end up skipping the next time they're fertile, so like a human a succubus is usually only pregnant once a year even though they're pregnant for a shorter term. If a succubus was pregnant every chance she got in her entire life and none of them were multiple births, she'd give birth to about a hundred babies. Assuming the father was never an incubus, only ten of her children would be the same species she is. And the odds are all ten of those children would be girls despite the one-out-of-ten ratio. Keep in mind the ratio is not an absolute, more a guesstimate. In these circumstances, roughly only one baby out of a thousand is born an incubus, making Naruto what we call an against-the-odds baby. You can see why despite our need for regular sexual relief we are actually low in numbers."

"What if an incubus and succubus had children together?" Sakura asked.

"That's the preferred way, and likely part of why some girls were a little enthusiastic. Okay, same math as before, all one hundred children would be incubi/succubi, and five-to-ten of them would be incubi. The odds are better for us this way, but of course this means incubi are rare to begin with. And with orgasms being the only way to keep our hormones from destroying ourselves, this caused a certain aspect in our culture."

"What aspect? Hinata asked.

"Since incubi are so rare, even before now, and sexual activity is important in our lives, it's become customary for incubi to have multiple mates."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sharing Naruto-kun." Hinata insisted.

"Hinata, you may have to." Kushina told the white-eyed girl. "The Frenzy isn't a one-time thing. It happens to an incubus six times a year and a succubus twice a year, during which he will need sexual relief or else he goes crazy then dies. And it is the only time he even can impregnate any girl. That's going to hit him soon. Are you willing to have sex with him any day now? If you do his aura is going to affect your body and may force it into a state of instant fertility, meaning unless you take some specially-made birth control you will get pregnant. And what about when you're pregnant and can't have sex without hurting the baby? Will you force him to suffer then?"

"You said you pleasured yourself to handle the urges. So why can't he when I can't?" Hinata asked.

"It's easier for a succubus to handle her own Frenzy, and even then it's like eating a snack when what you really need is a meal. For an incubus, his mind is so flooded with testosterone that he becomes an animal that only gets worse without relief. He won't have the patience to pleasure himself enough. He'll seek out another girl to handle the release for him, and if it gets bad enough, he won't ask her to consent. I know it's asking a lot of you, but if you don't consider it, you will be hurting Naruto. Do you want that?"

Hinata could not answer.

"Haven't there been any attempts to correct this imbalance?" Tsunade asked now that she had the chance.

"Of course there have been. But there's a problem. This problem is linked to our reproductive organs, and any attempt to fix the imbalance causes us severe reproductive problems such as permanent infertility. Which is one of the reasons in all these years no new incubi have been born. No one has found a safe way to make it work, so for now the best thing we can do is let Nature run it's course." Kushina stated.

"And you say there's no way to prevent this Frenzy?" Ayame asked.

"No more than you could prevent a period. All you can do is weaken it." Kushina answered. "If Naruto were to have regular sexual activity in between Frenzies, then when it does hit him it wouldn't be as effective. He'd mostly just be extra horny but still himself."

"Mom, does this mean I really am going to be some kind of monstrous pervert?" Naruto asked, this being what he really wanted to know despite everything else he was told.

"Not if you have girls who love you enough to help you keep calm, Son." His mother answered.

"Does he really need more than just me?" Hinata asked, hoping the answer was no.

"I'm afraid it is for the best Hinata, for you and him. It'll be easier on you to not be his only source of help, and easier on him to have more than one. It's normal for an incubus to seek multiple girls, that's just part of their biology. And with Naruto being the only one around, people in charge here are going to actually order him to reproduce with succubi until we have another incubus again. He's the greatest hope for our race. Without him or a miraculous against-the-odds baby like him, our race could go extinct within a century or two. The rulers here will not accept that."

"Sort of an involuntary CRA for him, right?" Tsunade asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes, exactly like that. Naruto will probably be forced to take at least five succubi girls as his mates unless we could come up with some ourselves. Maybe more, so the odds of having sons is higher. But for now let's not worry about that. All Naruto needs to worry about is when he starts feeling hornier than usual. That's the start of the Frenzy, and it's best to get it handled right then. After about two hours of it not being handled, he'll get more amorous, and by the fourth hour, he'll be like..." She paused to come up with an accurate comparison. "Imagine the Kyuubi attack, but if the fox was looking to get laid."

Everyone was wide-eyed to hear that.

* * *

><p>That night Kushina went back to check on Tayuya, with Tsunade accompanying her. "Found anything?" She asked.<p>

The head medic Iyoi nodded. "Yes, after some consideration, we've decided there are two courses to take here. Either my first idea, where Miss Tayuya is subjected minor healing spells to heal her little by little and no faster until that mark is removed, or we go with your alternative suggestion."

"Turn her into a succubus?" Tsunade asked.

Iyoi nodded. "Yes, and while the spell wasn't created for this, it does have incredible healing properties. Since it changes a person on a cellular and genetic level, it heals them in the process."

"Why was this spell originally created now that you mention it?" Tsunade asked.

"Are you aware of our species birth rates?" Iyoi asked.

"I was informed just a few hours ago."

"The spell was originally created to turn men into incubi to make more of them, but there was a mistake in its designs and so it only turns women into succubi. We haven't yet created an alternative, so we keep this around as sort of a reference and because creating more succubi does have it's benefits for us. Of course nowadays we only use it with the subject's permission."

"And you're certain it would work on her despite the mark?" Kushina asked.

"I don't want to promise anything, but I'm theorizing that this spell will see her mark as an outside pathogen in her body and remove it from her."

"What are the odds of you being right?" Tayuya asked.

"About 50/50. Unfortunately if you don't want this, then you'll have to try the more patient approach."

Tayuya shook her head. "Fuck the patient approach. I want to walk now."

Iyoi cracked her kunckles. "Alright, let's get started then."

"Hold on." Tayuya said. "First I want two things." Everyone listened in. "I want to know everything important there is to know about a succubus body, and I want to see this spell work on someone else first."

"Excuse me?" Iyoi asked.

"I've been a damn lab rat before, I have no fucking intention of being one again. Unless I see this spell work on someone else first, I'm not subjecting myself to anything."

"That's not wise." The medic said.

"Actually, it is." Tsunade countered. "I know the guy who treated her like a lab rat. If I were her, I would be the same way, wanting to see it work on someone else first before I accepted anything that affects my body."

"But where are we going to get a girl that would want to be changed?" Iyoi asked.

"Actually, I think I know just the person." Tsunade replied.


	21. Chapter 21

_Recommended Story: 'Three Simple Words' by Mikagami39_

Chapter Twenty-One

That night everyone agreed to keep an eye out for the ambitious succubus girls in the hotel in case they found Naruto's room. Everyone would take a turn keeping watch, except for Naruto. It was mutually decided that he had been thru enough and he needed some good sleep. And when they saw him in bed that night, they all knew he really needed to get some rest. He looked utterly exhausted after dealing with all this, a look no one had even seen before on him.

Taking the first watch was Shizune, Ino, and Moegi. Shizune had come back to the room to tell Hinata and Isaribi that Tsunade wanted to see them both for a moment, and she remained. Ayame and Sakura were getting some rest, and they would take the next watch.

Ino looked at the ceiling at sighed. "I hope Okaa-san and Otou-san took the news well."

"What news?" Moegi asked.

"That I'm not going to come back for a while because Hokage-sama wants me here with her." The platinum blonde specified.

"They're ninja, they should understand." Shizune reassured. "Besides, they've got business to attend to back home as well."

"What exactly is Hokage-sama planning in all this?" Ino asked.

"You're probably wondering how exactly the hokage can change the village for the better when she's not actually there, right?" Shizune asked. Both Ino and Moegi nodded. "It's simple really. Hokage-sama is trying to lure the corrupt ones into a false sense of security so they'll come out into the open and then the ninja loyal to her will apprehend them."

Shizune saw the girls didn't fully understand. "I'll explain it a little clearer. There are a lot of people in Konoha that want Naruto to be miserable if not dead, but the problem is except for mouthing off we don't know exactly how far they're willing to go to make that happen. We know now that the civilians have threatened a village-wide boycott of sales to shinobi if Naruto gets too strong for their liking, but it's likely that's not all they are willing to do."

"Wait, a boycott?" Ino asked, having missed that revelation from Ayame.

Shizune nodded. "Yes, they have threatened in the past that unless they get what they want regarding Naruto, no shinobi will get what they need to do their jobs. No weapons, no food, no public utilities, all of Konoha would be on lockdown until they could prove Naruto was deader than a door nail. I think there are people who honestly would rather see a meteor hit Konoha with them still in it then Naruto as Hokage even for a minute."

"So far the hokage has able to keep them at bay, give them things that make tolerating Naruto a little easier, but Tsunade-sama doesn't want to do that anymore. Especially since their demands are quite expensive. She wants to stop them once and for all." Shizune continued. "To do so, she's letting them believe she's no longer there to stop them. That false sense of security will draw out people into the open and they'll try to act like they own Konoha. When they do, the loyal shinobi have orders to imprison or execute them all until she gets back to deal with them. And if that doesn't work, she has a contingency plan."

"What's a contingency plan?" Moegi asked.

"You'd probably know it best as a Plan B." Shizune answered. "Plan B for Tsunade-sama is to create a secondary Konoha and grant the loyal ninja residence there once it's set up and leave behind the others to dig their own grave. Best way to show them that it is the ninja, not the civilians, that make Konoha what it is."

Ino thought it over. "I suppose in theory this could work. But what if something goes wrong?"

Shizune shrugged. "We'll have to handle that when it happens."

Ino looked back towards Naruto, seeing he looked anymore comfortable now. Next to him in the bed were Sakura and Ayame, laying there to keep him from thrashing around in his sleep as well as wake him up quicker if he had to for some reason. Ayame was sleeping next to him but not touching him, being protective like an older sibling, but Sakura had actually curled up into him like she needed his body heat. It was just like when Hinata had been sleeping next to Naruto on their trip here, only that time Naruto held her.

'I hope Sakura doesn't forget that he's Hinata's now.' Ino thought, concerned for her aching friend. 'Even if Hinata can share him, I wonder if he can share himself.'

* * *

><p>"So what do you need us for?" Isaribi asked the medics. Hinata stood next to her wondering the same thing.<p>

Tsunade approached both girls. "Girls, we have a way to cure Kushina's sister. The problem is it's a very radical solution and she has requested to see it work on someone else first before she subjects herself to it."

Isaribi stiffened. "You want us to be guinea pigs?"

"You really think we'd make you a test subject after what you've already been thru?" Tsunade asked. "Nothing here is going to be involuntary, for either of you."

"Do you want us to volunteer for this?" Hinata asked.

"You can if you want to, but that's actually not what I called you here for." Tsunade told them, confusing them. "You see, the option we have is to turn Tayuya here into a succubus, which should heal her in the process. Since this is so unusual by our standards of medicine, we need you two to ensure nothing goes wrong. Hinata, your byakugan can double-check for any irregularities, and Isaribi, you can see for yourself if this is an option you want for yourself."

"Do you already have a volunteer for this?" Isaribi asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. Me."

"You?" Isaribi asked, not expecting that. "But why?"

"I have my reasons." She answered simply.

"Like what?" Isaribi pressed.

"Part of it's to protect you girls. At the age you're at you'd be hit with that Frenzy thing Kushina mentioned and likely do something you're not truly ready for. I should be past the age where that rush of perversion hits me that hard so I'm a safer bet." She explained.

"Will this in any way affect you being hokage?" Hinata wondered.

Taunade shrugged. "I don't see how. Besides, if someone complains I'll just ask them to show me the law that says a succubus can't be hokage."

"Do either of you want to try this instead?" Kushina asked.

Both girls thought it over, trying to go over every angle there was to see it in.

Isaribi replied first. "If you cannot return me to normal, I suppose this would be an acceptable substitute. However, thanks to what Amachi did to me, I too am not enthusiastic to being a test subject. So I'd rather see it work on someone else first."

Hinata struggled to put her answer into the right words. "I would like to help Naruto-kun and be closer to him, so I would not mind becoming more compatible with him this way. Especially if this means I can share his lifespan so I don't have to get old before him. However, I must save this for later. There's something I need to do as a human first. After that, then I'll allow it."

'I wonder what she's referring to. Must be something personal.' Tsunade thought. "Alright then girls, we won't force you to do this now, but it will be helpful if you're here for this."

"You're certain you want this Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked. "What if something goes wrong? Or you can't change back?"

"You don't have to worry about that." Meo told her. "According to the notes, the success rate is 99%, and when it does fail, the subject remains normal."

"And if she does change her mind, she has until she gets pregnant for the counterspell to work." Iyoi added.

"Counterspell?" Isaribi asked.

Iyoi nodded. "For every spell there is a counterspell. Though like normal spells, they tend to be conditional. Miss Tsunade here can become human again anytime she wants, unless she gets pregnant as a succubus. Then the counterspell will do nothing."

"To be honest, becoming pregnant is actually one of the reasons I volunteered." Tsunade stated.

"Really?" Iyoi asked.

The slug sannin nodded. "I had a miscarriage many years ago. My body never fully recovered so I was never again able to conceive. But I've felt an emptiness in my life from that loss and I'd love to have that opportunity again. I gave it some thought and I've decided I can live with this transformation if it means I can be a mother for real."

"Who's going to be the father?" Kushina inquired.

"I don't know yet. I want to regain a healthy uterus first, then I'll decide that part."

"Be careful Tsunade-sama, being a succubus isn't that easy." Kushina told the older woman. "You'll lose your chakra and thus all your jutsu, even your slug summons. You'll have to relearn everything using mana instead of chakra. And you'll have to deal with the Frenzy as well."

"Well, I should summon Katsuyu before it happens to ask if there's a way for me to keep the contract. But I think I can handle the rest. Besides, at my age the Frenzy is little more than a strong urge to masturbate right?"

"More the most part, yes." Kushina answered. "But your mating drive will be highest then. Unless you already have a mate, like I did, self-pleasure might not be enough."

"I don't know about having a mate, but I have had sex so I think it counts. It sounds to me like this frenzy thing has the most effect on virgins who lack the maturity or experience to handle the overload of hormones."

"True, but remember Tsunade-sama you're used to dealing with hormones in amounts that are safe for humans and it's been years since you've dealt with them in large amounts. There's no telling what the effect will be on you." Kushina warned.

Tsunade looked right at the redhead, trying not to look overbearing but still dominant. "Kushina, look me in the eyes and tell me I should turn down this one chance I have to be a mother again."

Kushina sighed in defeat. 'There's no right way to tell a grown woman she can't have that. I'm still angry at the fact people here took me away from my son and wouldn't let me come back for him. Robbing her of this opportunity would essentially be no different.'

She then looked back at the slug sannin. "Alright then Tsunade-sama, if you're so sure you want that, then be my guest."

Tsunade smiled. "Thanks. I'm just going to have a quick chat with Katsuyu outside then we can get started."

"Actually, since it's getting late why don't we save it for tomorrow?" Meo suggested.

Iyoi nodded. "Good idea. That way we're alert and attentive and less likely to make a mistake."

Tayuya sighed. "Just promise me we'll actually do this tomorrow. I'm running out of patience."

"It will be done Tayuya." Kushina reassured her surrogate sister. Then she turned to Hinata. "As for you girl, do you think you can still handle having Naruto as your boyfriend? Even knowing he has needs different than a normal human?"

Hinata wasted no time in nodding. "I've wanted this too long to give up at the first sign of difficulty. And if I were to reject him now in this time of confusion and vulnerability for him, I would only end up destroying the Naruto-kun I fell in love with."

Kushina smiled. "So how do you plan to save him? Can you share him as is his nature? He needs an outlet for his urges and it is in his nature to seek multiple mates. And since he's been deprived of love and acceptance to an unhealthy degree thanks to Konoha, he needs as much love as he can get. Your heart might be big enough to give him what he needs but your body might not be able to meet the demand."

"Before I answer that, let me ask you one thing." Hinata said. "You managed just fine all these years with self-pleasure. Why can't Naruto-kun do the same?"

"I already told you about that. I suppose in theory it could work, but I want you to be prepared for the possibility you can't keep him to yourself. I'm older than Naruto and my hormones are calmer, so it was easier for me to handle them myself. Naruto's hormones are peaking with great strength, and the Kyuubi might enhance them, so it's best to prepare for his sex drive being larger than expected. Also, keep in mind people here might demand it of Naruto. If you _had_ to, if there was no other option, would you be alright with that?"

Hinata remained firm in her stand. "I can't say I like it, I can't say I want it, but what I want even more than to be Naruto-kun's girl is for him to be happy and healthy. And if it turns out I'm not enough, then yes, I'd learn to tolerate it if nothing else. He's mine and I'd rather share him than relinquish him. But only with girls that feel the same way, none of those girls just looking for sex."

"Maybe you should ask the other girls in the group if they would become succubi too." Isaribi mentioned.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"Why not? She did say the people in charge here might demand your boyfriend be with actual succubi. Does it really matter if they were born human? At least this way you already know about the girls. Hell if I become a succubus I might even want a turn with such a nice guy."

Hinata blinked a few times. "You have a point." 'I wonder what Sakura would say about it if offered. I know she did a lot of bad things but she has genuinely changed for the better. I bet if she was given the chance to be loved by Naruto-kun again she'd gladly take it. This time for the right reasons.'

"Let's save such talk for tomorrow. I think we all could use a little sleep." Kushina stated.

No one argued, and everyone went back to their rooms.

Hinata just stood there when she saw Sakura cuddled up with Naruto. Rather than make a fuss, she slipped in between Naruto and Ayame and cuddled up to him too.

When Sakura woke up for her turn to keep guard, she saw Hinata had joined them but said nothing. Looking at Naruto sleeping, she saw how calm he was now. 'He's cute when he sleeps. If only I could start over...'

A quick glance at Hinata told the pinkette she was still asleep. While Ayame was getting ready to be a night guard but her back was turned, Sakura decided to give into one impulse and lightly kissed Naruto's left cheek.

"Ready Sakura?" Ayame quietly asked, trting not to disturb the others.

"Yeah." She whispered, getting up. Before her feet touched the floor, she felt a tap on her arm. Turning around, she saw Hinata wasn't as asleep as she had appeared to be. "Hinata? Did you-?"

"Don't worry." The byakugan-user told her. "This is an adjustment for all of us, and Naruto-kun could use all the help. I already forgave you for the past, and will accept you in Naruto-kun's life."

"You would?" The pinkette asked. "But... you deserve him more than I do."

"Let's talk about it in the morning." Hinata offered, then kissed Naruto's other cheek before getting comfortable again.

Naruto surprised both girls by moaning something quietly in his sleep, almost too quietly for anyone not right next to him. "Mmm... Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan..."

Both girls were wide-eyed to hear that, and shared a look before looking at him.

"Is he... dreaming about us both?" Sakura asked. 'Naruto dreams about me? Does that mean he never really stopped liking me? I thought for sure he gave up on me completely, but... maybe he didn't.'

"I guess he does." Hinata replied. "Let's keep this to ourselves for now."

Sakura nodded. "Just keep him warm Hinata." The Hyuuga heiress nodded and went back to sleep, while Sakura helped Ayame make sure no one uninvited tried to get in.

* * *

><p>Morning came and everyone was well-rested. Naruto felt much better than he had before, though his underwear felt weird to him. It felt... wet and sticky for some reason.<p>

Hinata woke up and gave him a kiss. "Good morning Naruto-kun."

"Morning Hinata-chan. What did Baa-chan want last night?"

"Just to ask me a question. But let's talk about that later."

Kushina was up making breakfast. "Hey kids, you hungry?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but I could really get some fresh air now."

"Go for a walk if you need to stretch your legs. I'm sure you don't have to worry about being ambushed now."

Naruto nodded. "Want to come along Hinata-chan? We haven't had a lot of alone time in a while."

"Of course I want to come along." She said, grateful she had slept in her normal clothes.

Using her byakugan, Hinata helped navigate them thru the hotel hallways that were still empty, and found a clearing in the forest behind the hotel. The two sat at the base of a tree and enjoyed the sounds of birds and the smell of the native flora. Naruto made sure not to show any incubus features so if anyone found them they wouldn't be too interested right away. Hopefully.

"Naruto-kun, are you happy with me being your girlfriend?" Hinata asked right off the bat.

"Of course I am. Did I do something to make you think I'm not?" He reassured her.

"No, it's not anything you've done. It's what your mother said." She told him. "Naruto-kun, our relationship isn't exactly normal anymore. The fact of the matter is, you can't just pretend you're not an incubus. And I can't pretend you don't have the needs of one. For us to work, we have to adjust our relationship to fit that."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, worried. 'Please don't break up with me Hinata-chan. Anything but that.'

Hinata put her arms around him to settle his nerves. "Naruto-kun, I still love you. That hasn't changed. But maybe I'm not the only girl you should love."

"Wouldn't that be cheating on you?" He asked.

"It's only cheating if you're not supposed to be doing it." She told him. "Your mother said you need regular sexual relief to remain normal. And you may need more than just me to keep you sated. I'd love to try to do it on my own, but my body can only do so much. Maybe it would be easier for us both if you did have more than just me as your girlfriend."

Naruto was surprised to hear this. "I can't do that Hinata-chan. It's wrong."

"It's in your nature to want this Naruto-kun. You've never needed it before but you will soon. You can't ignore a vital part of your nature just because it's not pleasant to think about. If you do, you're just like a lemming thinking it can fly when what you really do is crash into the ocean and drown. I don't want you to destroy yourself because you can't accept what you are."

"So you think I'm supposed to want to be a pervert?" Naruto asked, not liking the idea.

"It's natural to want sex sometimes Naruto-kun." She told him. "It's natural to admire the opposite gender. It's normal to be a bit perverted. Yes it's not good to want it too much, but it's not any better to never want it at all. Why are you so convinced Lust is the single deadliest sin of all?"

Narut clenched his eyes shut like he was trying to block something out. "Because Hinata-chan... people have hated me for years just for being a jinchuuriki. If I were to become a pervert, that's another reason for them to hate him. And that would be a reason that actually is my fault, unlike the Kyuubi."

"Naruto-kun, everyone to a point is a pervert. Having the urges doesn't make you inhuman, if anything it makes you more human." She told him.

"More human?" Naruto repeated.

Hinata nodded. "And if that's not enough to convince you, I know one thing that should. Even if some people do hate you for enjoying adult activities, the woman you do them with will love you for it. Doesn't that sound good? You gain love too, not just public disapproval, and the love is closer to you."

Naruto's eyes were quite wide at hearing this. 'I... I never thought of it like that. But it makes sense. If the girl is willing, then of course she wouldn't hate the guy she's with. And if she likes what goes on, then who cares if those not involved don't? It's none of their damn business.'

"You okay Naruto-kun?" She asked, worried she might have come across in a way he couldn't understand.

Naruto relaxed and smiled, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm fine. Thank you Hinata-chan. I swear that even though I have enough confidence for the both of us, you're the one with enough smarts for us both."

She blushed. "Oh I'm not that smart Naruto-kun."

"Yes you are Hinata-chan. You can help me understand anything. Take the compliment, you deserve to be praised more often."

Hinata smiled and kissed him, this time he returned it. Naruto felt a little bold today and next thing he knew Hinata was on her back with him on top of her. She didn't seem to mind at all.

When they broke the kiss they didn't leave this position. Hinata caressed Naruto's whisker marks. "Naruto-kun, can you do one thing for me?"

"Anything hime."

"Let me be your first."


	22. Chapter 22

_Recommended Story: 'Team 8' by S'Tarkan, winner of my Best Naruto Story Poll._

**Lemon warning this chapter. If you don't want to read a lemon then don't read this chapter. No one's going to force you to read this. Besides, even if you are one of those lemon-haters, why are you reading an M-rated story that has clearly established by now this is about succubi and incubi, the sex demons? You should have known by now that lemons were inevitable.**_  
><em>

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Let me be your first."

It was a simple request, but it spoke volumes for the couple. Hinata was blushing up a storm but Naruto was even more speechless. But despite that he still managed to respond. "You mean... right now?"

"I can wait, but if you w-wanted i-it now I... I wo-wouldn't r-refuse." She told him shyly.

Seeing her nervousness despite her resolve, he felt he had to ask something. "Hinata-chan, don't take this the wrong way, but why? What made you decide this?"

Hinata now had the chance to sit up, but she stayed on the ground, as if leaving it would remove any chance of being intimate with Naruto. "A couple of things Naruto-kun. Remember how your mom said you need this kind of activity to stay normal? I don't want to see you miserable, and if this is how I can help you stay strong and yourself, then I'm willing to do it."

"But what if you get pregnant? Isn't that bad at your age for you and the baby?" Naruto asked.

"I don't think you _can_ get me pregnant yet Naruto-kun. Your mom said you have to be in one of those Frenzies to do that and I don't think you are yet. Even so, there is a jutsu used specifically for birth control so I'd be safe."

Naruto had to pause for a moment to think of the right thing to say next. "Hinata-chan, I promise you that you will be my first as long as you want to be, and I will not force you to do anything for me. But I can't promise when I'll want that, because in the back of my mind I keep hearing a voice saying being a pervert is never ever a good thing. I can't just stop believing that overnight."

Hinata now sat up and put her arms around him. "Naruto-kun, how about I... I...?"

"You what?" He asked, curious.

Hinata closed her eyes for a moment and tried to fight her blush. When she opened her eyes, they were brimming with hope. "I'll let you explore my body. See for yourself what it's like to be a little perverted in a good way."

'Jiraiya did tell me that Naruto's the kind of student that best learns with his body.' Tsunade's words to Hinata when they had some private time in Sea Country came back to her right then. 'He understands something better when he has to do it himself, not when someone just tells him what to do. So I imagine that if you ever give yourself to him Hinata, he'll be a quick learner of what pleases you best.'

"What do you mean explore your body?" He asked, having never heard that phrase before.

The Hyuuga heiress let go of him and began to unzip her jacket. "D-do what y-you wa-want with my b-body. Touch it, feel it, taste it if you want. Get to know my body, and enjoy it. Then maybe that voice in the back of your mind will quiet down." She then shook her jacket off, showing a black short-sleeve shirt she wore underneath it.

Before she could take that off, Naruto gently grabbed her arms. "Hinata-chan, you don't have to take off your clothes."

She shook her head. "It will... be better for you if I do. Be-besides, I don't mind you seeing me bare Naruto-kun. My body was always meant for you. Don't you want to see it without clothes? I'd like to see yours without clothes too if you would let me."

"What if I hurt you?" He asked.

Hinata put her hand on his cheek. "Naruto-kun, unless I say 'no' and you say 'too bad', you won't hurt me. You _can't_ hurt me. Let me show you what I mean." Before he could stop her she lifted her shirt up and put it on the ground, leaving her in just a white bra. Naruto couldn't tell if she was a large A or small B, but he knew she was big for her age. Before he could speak she reached back and unclasped the hook, then took the undergarment off, displaying her breasts to his gaze.

"Hinata-chan?" He asked, but she grabbed his wrists and brought his hands up before she made him take her breasts in his hands. Upon feeling them he didn't know if he should grasp them or let go.

"Please enjoy them Naruto-kun. You won't hurt me." She told him, then released his wrists.

Naruto did not remove his hands, and despite the self-imposed feeling that he was not allowed to do this, he couldn't ignore the fact that Hinata wanted him too. Ignoring the anti-pervert in him for once, Naruto gently gained a grip on her mounds and caressed with his fingers, testing to see how this body part he didn't have himself reacted to his touch.

Looking at Hinata's face, he saw that she looked happy with what he was doing. Seeing that despite what he believed made him start to truly take what he had been told seriously. Sure, he knew that Kushina, Ayame, and Hinata had been trying to help him when they were telling him his anti-pervert belief was going a bit too far, but ultimately they didn't have the effect they wanted. You couldn't just tell a person they were wrong and expect them to accept it with open arms, you had to convince them too.

That was exactly what Hinata was doing right now, trying to convince Naruto that embracing his libido once in a while wasn't going to get him killed.

Maybe it was his incubus side finally starting to emerge, or maybe it was him trusting in his girlfriend, but right now Naruto admitted to himself that he wanted to keep touching her and if possible touch more. And if she wanted to touch him he wouldn't object. Besides, her breasts felt really nice.

Hinata let out tiny moans and gasps of pleasure as he experimented in touching her, and while his hands were busy she decided to make her own busy too. She reached down for his crotch and began to rub it from outside his pants, making him stop. "Keep going Naruto-kun, I'm just returning the pleasure you're giving me."

"Shouldn't my pants be off for this to truly be even?" He asked.

"Good idea Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she reached for his zipper, her excitement replacing all her shyness by this point. When she grabbed the zipper head she paused for a moment. "Is this okay for you Naruto-kun?"

"I'll let you know when it isn't." He replied.

Feeling reassured herself, Hinata pulled his zipper down. He was wearing boxers so she couldn't see that specific body part just yet, but she wasn't about to stop just yet. Fortunately Naruto decided to make things fair for her and took his hands off her chest in order to help her get his pants off.

"Hinata-chan, if you faint on me this isn't going to happen today." He warned her before removing his boxers.

"You better kiss me then, since that always works." She told them, remembering one time she fainted around him while they were secretly seeing each other and his kiss somehow revived her. She likened it to a fairy tale, especially since that was her first kiss and he said he heard that woke up girls all the time.

Naruto gently placed his lips on hers and the two enjoyed the sensation as always. While their lips were busy their hands were too, and they didn't part until the two were completely nude.

Once naked Hinata got on her feet and spun around. "How do I look Naruto-kun?" She asked, nervous but hopeful.

"Beautiful as heaven and sexy as hell." He answered.

Hinata blushed from the praise but she felt no oncoming signs of fainting. Inside she felt... loved. "Let me see your body too Naruto-kun."

Feeling a bit nervous himself but not wanting to be unfair, Naruto stood up and did a little spin himself but slower. For full effect he showed his incubus traits too. "Can you accept me this way Hinata-chan?"

"Would I be naked in front of you if I couldn't Naruto-kun?" Hinata told him before coming up to him and wrapping her arms around him under his wings. "I accept you. I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. You don't have to tell me you feel the same, but never doubt that I do want this."

Naruto wrapped his arms around her as well and gave her a warm look while touching his forehead to hers. "Hinata-chan, you say I don't have to tell you the same right now, but how long will you wait for it?"

"For you Naruto-kun, I'd wait forever."

Naruto smiled and caressed her bare back. "Fortunately you won't have to. I feel the same way, I don't want to imagine a life without you in it. And if we're going to do this, then I shouldn't be afraid to say something just as important." He then leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. "I love you Hinata-chan."

Hinata was about to burst from joy. She knew it was going to be hard for him to say that since he was unfamiliar with recognizing love and wouldn't be comfortable admitting it until he was without doubt on the matter. Not to mention he was a boy and admitting romantic feelings didn't come naturally to his gender. So the fact that he did say it meant a lot to her, more than it would meant to most other girls hearing it for the first time.

"Naruto-kun, take me. I want to be your mate now." She told him, using the most appropriate terms she could think of.

Naruto responded with a kiss and pushed her gently on her back. She responded by spreading her legs so he could properly position herself. All inhibitions were gone for both. Screw whatever people would say about this in the negative, these two only cared for one thing right now, experiencing the love they both had wanted for years in the most natural way there was to do so.

What the two didn't realize was that since Hinata made Naruto touch her he had been unleashing his incubus aura, which was affecting their libidos. The pheromones his body was releasing were making Hinata long for him more, and combined with her already present desire for that she had no resistance to them. And the surge of hormones in his body producing the aura made him less inhibited regarding fulfilling the act requested of him. Because of the aura affecting them, both of their bodies were in a state of readiness that could be best described as foreplay without orgasm.

Unfortunately, there was one bad side-effect of this aura being released, but they weren't going to find that out until much later. Right now, all they wanted to find out was how this was going to feel.

Hinata was wet and Naruto was hard, and both were so horny that they wanted to skip the foreplay completely and get right to the main act. But Naruto decided Hinata should be the one to make that decision. "Tell me what you'd like me to do Hinata-chan, and I'll do my best to make you enjoy it."

Her mind in a perverted daze, Hinata was unsure what to request of her boyfriend. Unsure of anything specific she wanted to experience right away, she settled for something she already had in mind. "I w-want you in... inside me. But... be gentle please."

"Like I would want you to be hurt." He said as he aligned himself to her opening. He rubbed his organ against her in an effort to get it wetter and thus easier for her to handle, and she didn't seem to mind the contact at all. Knowing she wouldn't be content with just that, Naruto stopped and began to carefully ease himself into her. "I'm going in Hinata-chan." He said as the head disappeared from view.

Hinata moaned from the sensation. It hurt a little more than she expected even at just this point, but a strange feeling of ecstasy almost covered it up. Not so much at the pain couldn't be felt, but enough that she had no need to complain. "I can feel it Naruto-kun. I want more."

Still being careful not to hurt her, Naruto inched in little by little, allowing her passage the chance to stretch and accomodate the, in Hinata's opinion, more-than-welcome impaler. He came to her hymen and froze. "You ready for this part?"

Hinata smiled. "Yeah, please kiss me while you do it. It'll help me relax." Naruto complied and while their lips connected his penis pierced her virgin barrier. Hinata expected pain, she was prepared for it, but instead she felt terrific. There was no pain at all, not even enough to register as a papercut, only another sensation of ecstasy that came close to triggering an orgasm right then.

Hinata should have asked herself why her hymen tearing was painless for her, but right then she couldn't care less. 'I did it. I gave myself to Naruto-kun, and no one will ever tear us apart.'

Naruto took his lips off her own so he could look at her again, never tiring of seeing the love in her eyes. Seeing her pleased with this, he began to move in her, rocking his hips back and forth. Hinata gasped, all pain gone now making her start to thrust her hips to match his. She held onto his back tightly, careful to avoid his wings as she didn't want to hurt them.

"Naruto-kun... harder..." She moaned, trying to withhold her brewing orgasm, wanting this to last longer. Sure, she could have a second turn with him which she already intended, but that didn't mean she wanted the first time to end soon.

The blonde's hips began to build up momentum, and the brunette began to practically thrash beneath him. She rammed herself against him, wanting him to take her to orgasm despite her desire to prolong the experience. Naruto sat up and grabbed her hips, lifting them up a bit and holding her in place while he began to thrust his cock into her more.

"Oh yes!" Hinata said, enjoying the feeling of Naruto somewhat dominating her. "Naruto-kun, you're amazing! I love you!" On impulse she made herself sit up on his lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and bouncing on his dick. "Keep going." She said before giving him a kiss.

'This is incredible. Why did I think this was something to avoid for so long? I owe Ero-sennin a huge apology.' Naruto thought, the feeling of her wet hot cavern wrapped around himself was like nothing he had imagined. He pulled his mouth away when he felt something unfamiliar but enticing inside his balls. "Hinata-chan, something's about to happen."

Understanding his warning, and feeling the same thing in her vagina, Hinata smiled. "Let it happen Naruto-kun. I want you to do it in me."

Naruto pushed her back on the ground, the position enabling his thrusts better. Both were getting so close, and all of a sudden they burst. Hinata cried out his name as she dug her walls clamped down on his phallus and Naruto called out hers as he fired blanks into her womb. Firing blanks was all he could do right now as he had yet to reach a genuine Frenzy, the only time his semen could impregnate a girl.

After the orgasm, Naruto laid down next to the girl he gave his virginity too. He attempted to pull out of her, but she locked her legs around him and shook her head. "I want to stay connected to you just a little longer Naruto-kun." She said before she gave him another kiss.

"Hinata-chan, thank you." He whispered to her, hugging her in return. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'll never be without me Naruto-kun. I'm going to be with you in this life and the next." She said just before her left forearm began to glow.

* * *

><p>"Hey, does anyone know where Naruto is?" Kushina asked as she prepared breakfast for her group that morning.<p>

"I think he went outside with Hinata." Sakura replied as she set the table.

"Could you go get him please?"

"Sure."

The pinkette left the room then the hotel before wandering around the hotel. Not seeing the two in any of the obvious places, she decided to check the forest close to the hotel. Having grown up in Konoha, forest was practically home turf to her so she suspected Naruto and Hinata would feel comfortable there too.

Once in the forest she felt a strange sensation come over her. She felt... warmer was the best way to describe it. Warmer and comfortable, but also compelled to find the source. With each step she took in the direction she felt drawn to her nether regions got slightly itchier, but not the kind of itch you can just scratch away without the right touch.

'Why do I feel so weird right now?' Sakura asked herself, wondering if she should leave the forest. But the feeling she got was in no way threatening so she convinced herself to keep going forward. After a bit she started to hear something too, but she couldn't make out what it was.

She learned once she found the source that is, and it silenced her quite effectively.

Sakura could only react by hiding behind a tree. 'Did they see me?' Carefully she peeked around the tree. 'No, they're still at it. But... but why are they even doing that? They're too young for this sort of thing. Is it Naruto's frenzy thing acting up?'

Despite the little voice in her head telling her to leave them alone and stop watching this, Sakura couldn't pull her eyes away. Maybe it was the way Naruto looked without his clothes, or the satisfied way Hinata sounded, but that unnamed sensation Sakura had been sensing since she got in the forest was strongest now and it was keeping her in place. In fact the only part of her that could move was her hand, and it was drawn to her crotch.

Sakura didn't even realize what she was doing until her breathing practically became panting and she found herself imagining herself in Hinata's place, then she stopped. 'What am I doing? Was I just masturbating to them having sex? And was I really picturing myself being the one having it? What's wrong with me?'

"Naruto-kun... harder..." Hinata moaned, interrupting Sakura's thoughts for a moment.

Once again the pinkette couldn't help but imagine that it was really her on the forest floor, being pounded by the whiskered blonde and enjoying every moment of it, begging for more. Try as she might, she could not get herself to think of something else.

'I should get out of here. They won't appreciate someone watching them.' She told herself before she managed to tear her eyes away and headed away from the couple.

Once she was certain that they couldn't see her, Sakura stopped and leaned against a tree. She had to calm her racing heart and get her genitals to stop itching in a good way. Her right hand struggled to stay out of her pants.

'Oh Kami-sama I've never felt so horny in my life. All I want is to go back and ask for a turn when they're done. But I can't, that's not fair to Hinata. Sure, she said she accepts me in his life, but that's not exactly an invitation to a threesome.' Sakura thought, yearning for sex with Naruto despite several reasons not to. Despite the validity of those reasons, all Sakura's body cared about was getting relief, and it preferred Naruto provide that relief over her hand.

'I want Naruto, but I can't have him. I no longer have that right. I could have but I thought he wasn't good enough for me at the time, and now all I want is to be worthy of him. And deep down, I want him to be my first.' She thought, then mentally sighed. 'When did I fall for Naruto?'

Before she could go further on that train of thought, she was snapped back to reality by the sound of someone approaching. It was one of those girls she saw at the poolside the other day, to be more specific it was the one named Rika she had chatted with before they surrounded Naruto. This time the succubus was wearing a white shirt with blue overalls.

"Hi, am I too late?" Rika asked.

"Late for what?" Sakura asked.

"For the mating. I felt the incubus aura too. It's intoxicating right now. The others should get here any moment. Have you already gone or is it your turn next?"

'Wait, she could sense that Naruto was having sex right now? And the other girls are about to show up wanting him to take them too? I have to stop them. Hinata's the only one who has a right to Naruto and it should stay that way, even if I want the same thing this girl wants.' Sakura thought.

"Actually, I'm guarding the incubus to keep disrupters away." Sakura answered.

"Beg pardon?" Rika asked.

"I'm saying my friend is being with the girl who loves him the most and deserves his love the most, and I'm not letting any girl get in their way." 'Even myself.'

Rika looked surprised, then even a bit amused. "Girl, unlike the others I'm going to ask you nicely. Can I have a turn with the incubus?"

"You don't even know his name and you want to sleep with him? What is wrong with you?" Sakura asked.

"It's just my nature. So please step aside."

"No."

Rika lightly frowned. "I didn't come all this way just to take no for an answer girl. If you want to play rough," Rika bared her claws, wings, and tail at this moment in an effort to look intimidating. "Then let's play rough."


	23. Chapter 23

_Recommended Story: 'Mythical Night' by Myrddin Le Fay_

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sakura Haruno was not what most people would consider a fighter. Sure she had a great punch, but the true could be said of virtually anyone in a bad mood. When it came to actual style or training, Sakura was beginner at best and pretender at worst. And contrary to popular belief, she had in fact worked in training to get better in it, even during the month-long break during the chuunin exams. Her only flaw was that she didn't have much instruction for it, as she once wouldn't fight Sasuke, Kakashi went easy on her, and Naruto used to irritate her to the point she reacted out of proper form. As a result, Sakura's taijutsu was actually among her weakest skills.

This didn't stop Sakura from getting in her routine stance once it became clear this succubus had no intention of backing down. 'Damn, I wish I had thought to bring my weapon pouch with me. I'll just have to be careful of this girls claws.'

Thinking of her limited options, Sakura did three quick hand signs and created two standard clones next to her. Rika was quite surprised. "What the hell? What kind of spell is that?"

'Perfect, she's never seen jutsu before.' Sakura thought, congratulating herself on this advantage. She and her illusionary clones charged forward. Rika, thinking all three Sakura's were real, took to the air to avoid getting hit.

"I don't know what kind of magic you're using, but I'm not dumb enough to be touched by it." The succubus told the human.

"That's not all you should worry about." Sakura said, dispelling her clones since they were useless now. 'I hope she buys this, because if not I'm out of options but to fight dirty.'

"Oh yeah? And what else should I worry about?" Rika said, perching on a branch like a hawk.

Sakura tried to stand proudly with a smile. "Because that boy you want to be with, I'm one of his mates-to-be. And I was the first girl he ever wanted for a mate. So if he hears you hurt me in any way you can kiss any chance of being with him goodbye."

Rika seemed to believe the story, but something didn't sound right to her. "Wait, I can hear him taking another girl right now. If you're the one he wanted first, why is he with someone else?"

Sakura quickly thought on her feet and showed no sign of being caught in a deception. "That's not really any of your business. But she and I had a bet to determine which of us would go first and she won. But I'm next, and there's no way in hell you're going ahead of me."

Rika thought it over, finding it plausible since she had no reason to believe otherwise. She looked at the pinkette then towards the sounds of Naruto and Hinata climaxing then back to Sakura. "If that's really what you want... you'll have to stop me first." With that she took flight and went off to reach Naruto.

Sakura immediately ran after her.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Hinata were trying to relax in the afterglow of their union, but it didn't last long. A thump was heard making them look up, where they saw a succubus girl who just landed about five feet from their feet. Hinata squeaked in fear while Naruto used his wings to cover himself and her.<p>

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He asked, baring his teeth intimidatingly.

"Hey there big boy, if you've got any left in you I'll be glad to give you an outlet. I bet that human girl is too tired for more but you're not and need another girl to ride." Rika told him casually as she started to take off her overalls.

Hinata glared, horribly offended by this complete stranger thinking she could be with her loved one just because she asked. "Get lost! I'm still ready for more and I'm not sharing him with you!"

"I'll wait, but you're going to get tired at some point." Rika said while she was still undressing, down to her bra while her overalls were at her ankles and her shirt was already on the ground.

Naruto frowned. "I'm with her because I love her, not because I need an outlet, and I won't be with any girl I don't love. I don't even know your name and you don't even know mine, so the answer is no."

Rika was about to object, but all of a sudden Sakura came up behind her and hit her in the head, knocking her on her knees making her clutch her aching scalp. "I said stay away from him!"

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, not expecting her to be around. Suddenly he and Hinata felt a bit embarrassed being so exposed in the open.

Hearing her name the pinkette couldn't help but glance their way, and turned bright red seeing them. Sure, she had seen them before when they were in the middle of making love, but this time they knew she could see them naked and together.

Sakura looked away. "Sorry Naruto, she kind of got away from me."

"Ow, you bitch." Rika groaned as she tried to get back on her feet while ignoring the pain in her head.

Sakura moved to stand between her and Naruto, as if to guard him from the succubus. "You're the bitch. I told you that I'm one of the girls he actually wants and you decide to invite yourself into our business." Sakura quickly looked at the nude couple and winked at them, her face wearing a pleading expression.

Naruto was confused, as was Hinata, but the white-eyed girl quickly got the message. 'She must have already told this girl that she's one of Naruto-kun's other mates to try and keep her away. If we play along, this girl might have no choice but to leave us alone.'

"It's natural for my kind to do this sort of thing." Rika argued.

"But Naruto isn't like the rest of your kind. He's not going to sleep with just any girl who asks. If all you want is sex and don't care if you never see him again afterwards, then I'm not letting you come near him even once." Sakura said, cracking her knuckles.

"And what makes you two any better than me?" Rika asked, fire in her eyes. "What gives you two the right to keep the one incubus in the world to yourselves?"

"Because I love him!" Hinata and Sakura both shouted in unison, then Sakura blushed at her sudden admission while Naruto and Hinata looked at her.

Rika was unimpressed. "Doesn't matter, two human girls can't keep him satisfied. He needs at least one succubus and I'm the only one here so that makes him mine."

Hinata angrily stood up and faced the succubus, ignoring her nudity at the moment. "Never. You look at him and see just an incubus, a male to satisfy your lusts and nothing more. I've loved him for as long as I can remember, even when we all thought he was a human. If he wasn't an incubus you wouldn't want anything to do with him. I'll never share the love of my life with a girl like you."

Rika gave Hinata a harsh look but it was nothing compared to the kind she got from any of the Hyuugas so Hinata wasn't affected by it. Rika's eyes briefly darted to Hinata's left and she sighed. "I guess I can't argue with the apparent alpha girl of his group, so I've leave for now. There's got to be at least one boy in this town that won't turn away succubi pussy in favor of human." She picked up her clothes and left without even bothering to put them back on.

Sakura looked at Hinata and smiled. "Good job Hinata. Fighting for Naruto really does wonders for you."

"Thanks." Hinata said, remembering her nudity now and feeling a little self-conscious.

"Hey Hinata, what's that on your arm?" Sakura added.

"What are you...?" Hinata started, looking at her arms to see anything different. She cut herself off when she saw it, an orange band of skin on her left upper arm, closer to her shoulder then her elbow and about three fingers thick, with a thick red stripe running halfway thru it. This orange ring looked like it had been tattooed on her but she knew for a fact that was impossible. "What is that?"

"Does it hurt?" Naruto asked, jumping up to get a closer look at the ring on her arm. In the process he unknowingly gave Sakura a view of his ass, making her get a nosebleed.

"No, not at all. Where did it come from?" Hinata replied.

"Could it be a mate mark?" Sakura suggested, wiping her nose.

"A what?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"A mate mark, something I've seen a lot of in stories when a girl falls in love with a demon, like a vampire or hanyou. The guy marks the girl as his wife by giving her a special mark that binds the two for life like scar version of wedding rings. They usually are created during sex."

"Wait, are you saying Hinata-chan's my wife now?" Naruto asked, facing Sakura and now giving her a full view of his front, which made her turn red then covered her eyes.

'W-w-wife?' Hinata thought, coming close to fainting from shock but a good kind of shock.

"I don't know for sure Naruto, my only source is fiction. For all I know the mark is a rash from some poisonous plant out here she was laying on. You'll have to ask Kushina-sama about it."

Naruto was silent for a moment then reached for his boxers. "You know Sakura-chan, if you're going to peek thru your fingers you could at least make the gaps smaller."

"I'm not peeking." Sakura lied, tightening her fingers so she couldn't look for real this time.

Hinata started putting her clothes back on too. "Naruto-kun, go get your mother and ask her to come here, but don't tell her what we just did. Just say she needs to see something. I'll stay here and talk to Sakura about something."

"Alright." He replied. When he was fully dressed, wings and tail hidden, he gave her a kiss before he left. "Thanks for not hitting me Sakura-chan." He whispered as he passed the pinkette, not giving her the chance to respond.

Hinata put on everything except her jacket and looked at Sakura, making the pinkette feel a bit uncomfortable. It wasn't like Hinata was glaring at her or anything, but Sakura couldn't help but feel that the Hyuuga heiress was sizing her up for something, or looking for something to use against her.

"Now, did I hear you correctly a few moments ago? Did you really just say you love Naruto-kun?" Hinata finally asked.

Sakura had the decency to look embarrassed and held her hands together in front of her. "Yes, I did say that."

"Why?"

"I'm kind of surprised too."

"Was that part of your act for getting rid of that girl?" Hinata asked.

Sakura hesitated for a moment. "No, that part wasn't. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear this from Hinata, but my heart is calling out for Naruto now."

"Sakura, I'm not going to be judgmental of you. Like I said last night, I won't keep you out of Naruto-kun's life, but I'm surprised you said this so soon. I thought it would take you a little longer to desire Naruto-kun this way if at all. So what exactly made you fall for Naruto-kun when just a month ago you would have given your right arm to be Sasuke's lover?"

"Hinata, if _anyone_ has the right to be judgmental to me on this subject, it's you. As for why I feel this way, I'm not so sure since I only started realizing it this morning. Maybe I liked Naruto more than I wanted to when we were younger but wouldn't acknowledge it, I don't know. All I know is I do care about him and now I'm not afraid to show it, even if I can only ever be just his friend."

Hinata lightly smiled. "Sakura, you've definitely treated Naruto-kun better during our time away from Konoha so I'm not distrusting you, merely surprised you developed these feelings so soon. And to be honest I'd rather share him with you then with that other girl. But tell me one thing, what is it you really want regarding Naruto-kun?"

Sakura closed her eyes. 'What do I want?' She asked herself, thinking about the whiskered blonde she had come to trust and admire, then lightly smiled and looked at Hinata. "I trust Naruto with my life. After all he's been thru he deserves to be happy and loved. If I could be selfish, I'd ask to be one of the girls you share him with, and give myself to him like you just did. But that's his decision, not ours, and if he says no, I'll at least help him become Hokage."

"And if he says yes?" Hinata asked.

Sakura looked firm but relaxed. "Then I'll be what I should have been all this time, a girl who returns his love and affection with the same."

Hinata smiled. "Good. That's the kind of girl I'd be happy sharing Naruto-kun with. I don't think you have to worry about him rejecting you though, since he did dream about you last night."

"I remember. I wonder what we were doing to him in that dream." Sakura replied. "Maybe Naruto's not as much of an anti-pervert as he thought he was."

"I once heard anti-perverts are really big perverts pretending not to be." Hinata stated. "If so I wonder how good he's going to be when he gets more experience."

"So you won't be mad if he and I... have sex someday too?" Sakura bashfully asked.

Hinata lost her smile but didn't frown. "I can't say I'll like it, but I'm not going to force Naruto to be monogamous if that actually threatens his well-being. So I'll basically tolerate it as best you could expect of a woman, as long as you treat him right and aren't just after sex."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not. I truly want him to be happy, and I want to be happy with him."

"Sakura, you remember how Kushina-sama said Naruto can live up to 130 right?" Hinata asked, and Sakura nodded. "There's a way for us to share his lifespan. What we do is... become succubi."

"Become succubi?" Sakura repeated.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, with a spell that turns human girls into succubi. Tayuya-san is going to use it to be able to walk again and Tsunade-sama is going to use it so she can become capable of having children again. You and I and any other girl who loves him like we do can use it so we can live with him instead of growing old and grey and dying decades before he does either."

Sakura thought it over. "You have a good point. Are there any drawbacks to this?"

"Just dealing with the needs of a succubus for the rest of our lives, meaning our sex lives can never get old and slow. And once we get pregnant we can never become human again." Hinata told her.

"Would we... be helpful to Naruto other than for sex?" Sakura asked. "I want to be by Naruto's side when he needs help, not off on the sidelines waiting for him to finish and soothe him when the fight's over. I'm tired of being helpless in a bad situation and I'd like to fight beside him, not behind him. Because if he's going to be hokage, he'll need us to help him fight off those that want to hurt him."

Hinata nodded. "I know exactly what you mean. That in fact is one of the reasons I'm procrastinating on the change."

Sakura blinked and tilted her head. "Meaning?"

"I've already decided I will do this and become a succubus for Naruto-kun, but there's one thing I need to do first as a human. My clan elders are convinced I will be a weakling forever, and I want to prove them wrong. If anyone can help me get strong enough to do that, it's our group, but if I become a succubus I'll always feel like my strength came from that and not my efforts. So after we go back to Konoha and I teach those elders a lesson, then I'll become a succubus for Naruto-kun."

Sakura smiled. "Sounds like a good idea."

"What about you?" Hinata asked.

"Me? Well, I don't have anyone to fight back home, and if I did have to fight someone I think I'd stand more of a chance as a succubus then as a human. So I guess I don't really have a reason to wait if offered."

"Would you accept?" Hinata asked.

Sakura only needed a moment to think about it. "I think I would. It'll be a great way to bond with Naruto and help him when that Frenzy thing starts up, and if I can get a sexier body that would be great. My one concern is what my parents would think. I doubt they'd hate me, but they might not like me deciding this without their input."

"I don't think this is really their decision, but yours." Hinata pointed out.

Sakura felt a bit comforted by that. "You're right. Thanks Hinata, for everything. I owe you one for all this."

"For now, let's just get some breakfast. I'm hungry."

Sakura smirked. "I bet Naruto would make you work up an appetite." Hinata blushed but smiled.

* * *

><p>After breakfast Tsunade was ready for the spell. Naruto remained in his room since the succubi at the hotel were making him uncomfortable being anywhere else. Hinata, Moegi, and Ayame were with him to keep him company and from getting bored while the rest were with Tsunade to see how this spell would affect her.<p>

At breakfast Hinata showed Kushina her new mark, and the older woman squealed happily to see it. "That's an incubus mark. I was told that when an incubus claims a girl as his mate that appears on her arm like a permanent wedding ring. The only reason I don't have one is because Minato wasn't an incubus. But this basically makes you my daughter-in-law now Hinata."

Kushina would have loved to spend more time with her son and new daughter, but at the moment she had to be there with Tsunade and Tayuya to see how this would go. Mostly she was there for piece of mind for them. Also there was a small Katsuyu, overseeing this to see if it was possible to maintain a connection to Tsunade without chakra and to select a new summoner if not.

The medics Iyoi, Meo, and Kiha came up to Tsunade. "You certain about this?"

The slug sannin nodded. "Yes. I know this will change a lot for me beyond just my DNA but it's worth it. I only request that after it you instruct me in some medical spells to help me replace the ones I will lose."

"That shouldn't be hard. Teaching's easy, the hard part will be learning it."

"So how are we doing this?" Tsunade asked.

"This spell is one of the higher level ones, meaning an incantation isn't enough to make it happen." Meo warned. "We have to write specific words on your body to sort of anchor the spell to you, and even then it will take all three of us performing the spell to make sure it happens."

"Makes sense. The more complicated the jutsu the more preparation you have to put into performing it." Tsunade replied.

Iyoi looked at the other girls in the room. "Would either of you like to join her in this now?"

"I want to see this work first." Tayuya stated.

"Same here." Isaribi added with a nod.

"I'd rather stay as I am." Ino confirmed nervously.

Sakura surprised everyone by stepping forward. "I'll do it."

"What?" Ino asked.

Sakura nodded. "I want to help Naruto and show my support for him. This way I can."

"You know there are other ways to do that." Kushina told the young girl.

Sakura smiled. "I know, but I'm choosing to do it this way." She then faced the three medics. "I'm ready."

"Alright then, both of you please take off pretty much everything except your panties." Kiha requested as she grabbed a brush and bottle of ink.

There were no men in the room so Tsunade and Sakura didn't object and in no time were clad only in their panties. Sakura was a little embarrassed to reveal just how small her breasts really were. 'I hope they don't stay small after this.'

Kiha dipped her brush in the ink, which turned out to be pink instead of black, and began to write words on parts of Tsunade's and Sakura's bodies that were in a completely different script than any the natives of the Elemental Nation had seen before. The words were written on the girl's stomachs, breasts, back of shoulders, forearms, above posterior, calves, and foreheads.

'It almost feels like a full body fuinjutsu.' Tsunade thought to herself.

"Now here's the hard part, the three of us each have to say a different portion of the spell simultaneously. The combined result will be you two turning into a succubus. Don't expect the change to be instantaneous, if anything it will take up to an hour to be complete. With Tsunade well past the age for puberty, she'll develop succubi traits quicker than normal. Sakura, who is currently at the age where puberty ends for succubi, is likely to develop at the same rate." Kiha told the two for-now humans.

"I must warn you both though, that you're going to experience a form of hormone surge similar to an adrenaline rush." Iyoi chipped in. "Since Tsunade's body is no longer used to having a lot of hormones in it anymore, she might feel like she's experiencing some akin to a medical stimulant injection. Sakura's body on the other hand is probably going to feel like she's completing puberty in an hour. Such a situation is likely to result in a Frenzy almost right away for her."

Sakura was wide-eyed. "So you mean I'll need sex right away?"

"I said likely, not guaranteed, and self-pleasure will work as well if you don't have a boy to help you, but it will take a lot of it to dull the effects." The succubus medic warned.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sakura told her. 'Would Naruto help me if that happens?'

"Anything else we should be warned of?" Tsunade asked.

"We can only do work on one of you at a time. Just be careful to not lose your balance during your body's new adjustment to itself. And be ready to feel a whole lot younger again." Iyoi warned. "Or in your case Sakura a little older."

Without further ado, the three medics formed a triangle around the slug sannin first and placed their right hands on her. Iyoi put hers on Tsunade's left shoulder, Meo put hers on Tsunade's right thigh, and Kiha put her at the base of Tsunade's neck on her back. All three closed their eyes and said three different phrases then one shared phrase. Tsunade's ink marks glowed then the glow spread to her entire body, as if it were laminating her.

'It feels like... like orgasming while soaking in a hot spring.' was the best comparison Tsunade could make to how this felt from her end.

After a few seconds the glow darkened then stopped, and Tsunade collapsed to her hands and knees panting, feeling like she had just exhausted her body but had enjoyed doing so. Meaning despite her shortness of breath she surprisingly left relaxed rather than stressed.

"Your turn Sakura." Meo told the pinkette, who soon experienced the exact same thing and ended up on her knees and hands panting just like Tsunade.

"Now what?" Ino asked.

"Now we wait and see if it worked."


	24. Chapter 24

_Recommended Story: 'Establishing Dominance' by VFSNAKE_

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Did it work?" Sakura asked as she got up on her feet.

"We'll know in about an hour." Iyoi told her.

"So what do we do until then?" Tsunade asked.

"Well you don't exactly have to stay here for the entire time if you don't want to, but in that case I insist you not go anywhere unsupervised so your changes can be noted safely." The medic advised.

Tsunade shrugged. "If I've got to kill an hour I'm going to get some sake. Anyone want to join?"

Kushina nodded. "Sure, I don't mind." She turned to the medics. "Will alcohol affect the change?"

"I don't know. But if it's like any other medical procedure, I'd advise staying away from it."

Tsunade groaned. "Damn, then is there at least a casino in the area?"

"Oh yes. You can't miss it." Kiha answered.

"Then that's where I'm going. You coming Shizune?"

"Someone has to ensure you don't go broke." The short-haired brunette stated.

"I'll go along still. Someone who knows about succubi needs to be there and these three ladies have other patients too you know." Kushina said.

"What about me?" Sakura asked.

"You can come with us if you want." Tsunade offered.

"Actually here kids can't go into casinos. No ninja privileges in Alfheim." Kushina pointed out.

"I'm fine staying here." Sakura stated. "I just wondered who would help me if something comes up."

"We'll still be in the area." Meo told her. "Have one of your friends come find us in the hospital if something seems unusual. Just remember the normal progress for succubi development."

"And if I get a Frenzy?" Sakura asked.

"Find yourself a boy or some privacy." Meo answered. "But I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. It's not impossible, but you don't get a true Frenzy until you've completed puberty. So you might get everything except a Frenzy which could come much later. It's unlikely you'd experience a Frenzy today unless you were ovulating now or about to, then it would hit you."

"In either case it would help to get some birth control." Kiha added.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sakura responded, too embarrassed by the advice to say anything else.

Sensing her friend's discomfort Ino decided to brighten the mood. "C'mon Forehead, let's go somewhere and relax for a bit. You look like you sure could use it."

Sakura slowly nodded. "Yeah. Thanks Ino. Got any ideas how?"

"Two words, room service."

Kushina lightly frowned. "I'll allow it but please go easy. And maybe you should use a separate room so you don't bother my son and his girlfriend." The group only had one room so far, so getting a second sounded easier than telling Naruto and Hinata to have their time somewhere else or telling Sakura to handle her new experience out in the open.

The girls nodded and Kushina gave them the money to get a second room and order some room service. Fortunately she was quite wealthy in this world and could spare it.

"I'm so looking forward to when I can join in on this." Tayuya claimed. "Once I can walk again Kushina you are showing me what women do for fucking fun around here."

"Absolutely Tayuya-chan." Kushina told her sister.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later Sakura, Ino, and Isaribi were in their own hotel room. They had ordered lunch and for just this once Sakura and Ino decided to pretend they weren't on a diet and went all out. While they ate they turned on the tv to see what people watched in Alfheim.<p>

"Wow, I'm feeling really hungry right now." Sakura said as she scarfed down a cheeseburger.

"That might be a side effect of your body turning into something else. The extra calories should help you grow the new body parts and everything." Isaribi theorized, eating a cheeseburger of her own.

"Speaking of which, feel any different?" Ino asked, feasting on a simple hamburger since she didn't care much for cheese.

"No, but I do feel something strange by my butt. Maybe that's my tail growing in?" Sakura replied, turning around as if to see such a thing. Ino and Isaribi couldn't help but do the same.

"Is it the tail that comes in first?" Isaribi asked.

Sakura nodded. "I doublechecked with Kushina-sama. The chain of events goes tail, wings, breasts and hips, then a Gift then Frenzy. At my age I should get at least as far as a Gift if not Frenzy."

"How would you recognize this Gift thing?" Ino asked.

Sakura shrugged, wiping her mouth before moving onto a strawberry milkshake. "No idea. Maybe it will be obvious like some kekkei genkai or not. There's no telling what it will be."

"Bet it won't be as cool as Kushina-sama's ability to create chains." Ino claimed semi-teasingly.

"Maybe it will be cooler. Like being able to take over your mind for once Ino-pig." Sakura teased right back.

"Oh no, no way you're getting my abilities. I mean, how would you like it if I made a move on Naruto before you could?" The platinum blonde challenged.

"Are you interested in making a move on him?" Sakura curiously asked.

Ino blanched, realizing what her words could be interpreted to mean. "What? No, I'm not. I wouldn't think of it."

"Actually, you already did if you brought it up." Isaribi pointed out.

Ino blushed. "It meant nothing, just a reference. He's not even my type."

"Then why the blush?" Isaribi asked.

"Cute and kind and loyal to a fault isn't your type?" Sakura asked at the same time.

Ino frowned, irritated. "Look, let's drop the subject. Naruto's a nice guy, but right now I'd rather not think about him like that. I'm more concerned about going back home. Besides, Hinata already has to share him with one former-fangirl, I doubt she'd appreciate a second one getting added into the mix."

Sakura finished off her milkshake before she responded. "You think Hinata is already sharing him with me?"

"Isn't he?" Ino asked.

Sakura looked a little sad. "All she said was she was willing to, but Naruto himself hasn't said anything. I haven't even talked to him on the subject, and until we do, I'm just a friend, not a lover."

"But you want to be his lover don't you?" Isaribi asked. Sakura just nodded, munching on some thick-cut fries now.

"Wow, Sasuke really hurt you for you to switch to Naruto like this." Ino commented, but froze when she saw Sakura hurt expression, one that held a good mixture of pain and anger.

"You really think this has anything to do with that ungrateful emo? He had his chance to have my heart and he blew it. Naruto on the other hand never stopped caring about me even after I hurt him, and even with Hinata holding his heart he had enough to spare for me. If anything I'm glad Sasuke did what he did because he opened my eyes before it was too late for me to do anything about it."

Ino was silent in response, not sure what to say to her friend. Fortunately she got a distraction. "Sakura, I think your tail is growing."

Her bad mood evaporated instantly and Sakura stood up swiftly, putting her hands on her butt. Right away she could feel something new there and growing. Adjusting her shorts and dress she tried to give her new appendage room to grow. In no time she had a tail the length of her arm that ended with a heart shape.

"Wow! It really worked." Sakura said, pleased. Right away she tested its mobility, seeing how it moved. It moved as easily as her tongue could, though at first it did so too fast and jerky until she worked at controlling it better.

"Try to pick up something with it like Naruto can." Isaribi suggested, remembering the time they saw Naruto test his tail and wings. He was able to use his tail like a third arm, fly once he got the hang of it, and after one painful experience knew how to avoid sitting on his tail.

Sakura nodded and with careful tail-eye coordination had her heart-shape end wrap around a fry and bring it to her mouth so she could eat it. "This could really come in handy." She said happily.

"Be glad there's no hair on that. Can you imagine having to shave it like your legs?" Ino asked, that on her mind because she had to shave her own legs this morning for the first time since she left Konoha.

Sakura got an idea and sat down by Ino, avoiding her tail, and had her back turned to the blonde. "Before my wings grow in, can you cut some holes for them in my clothes?"

"Good idea, can't have you go around topless here." Ino said before getting one of her kunai. "Hmm... I think they might come in here." She said as she estimated the best places on Sakura's dress to make the cuts.

"Wouldn't it be easier to go buy a new shirt at the gift shop?" Isaribi suggested. "I'm sure they already have shirts made to accommodate wings so the tears won't spread until the entire top unravels."

"Good idea too. Let's do that." Ino said, feeling a small sense of excitement from this mini-shopping experience.

"Do we have enough money left for it?" Sakura asked.

Isaribi held up their remaining cash. "We'll find out when we get there."

* * *

><p>Five minutes later the three girls were checking out the limited shirt selection at the hotel gift shop. Some were obvious vacation souvenirs with slogans and pictures that made Sakura disinterested in getting on.<p>

"Here's one." Ino offered, holding up a normal dark red one with wing slits in the back. "I think it's your size."

She handed it to Sakura who examined it. "Yeah it's my size. Too bad there aren't any changing rooms here."

"Then let's go to one of the real stores." Ino proclaimed.

Sakura shook her head. "We don't know this town at all. We could easily get lost. Besides, if something were to go wrong the doctors know to come here, not somewhere else." She faced a mirror and held up the shirt in front of her to see how it looked on her.

"Hi girls, what are you doing?" Ayame asked as she and Moegi came up to the young teens.

"Ayame? I thought you were with Naruto." Sakura replied, surprised to see the ramen chef here.

"We were, but he and Hinata... clearly needed some alone time."

They all got the message right away. "Again? After only a few hours?" Sakura asked.

"Wow, who would have thought Hinata had it in her to be so frisky." Ino thought out loud.

"I don't think it's all Hinata right now. Naruto looked like he needed it too." Ayame informed.

"Wait, you don't think he's experiencing a Frenzy do you?" Sakura asked.

"I don't think so. He didn't look pushy or irritable or anything like that. My guess is like with ramen he just wanted a second helping." Ayame said. "Though I did consider that and made sure Hinata used the birth control jutsu."

"What's that?" Moegi said, noticing Sakura's new feature.

"Ah, you decided to join Tsunade-sama didn't you?" Ayame asked before Sakura could answer.

Sakura handed the shirt she was holding to Ino. "Take this, I'm going back to the room. My back feels weird." Without waiting for a response she darted away.

By the time she was back in the room and closed the door she could already feel her wings growing in. She quickly unzipped her dress and took it off so a set of bat-like wings could sprout off her back and spread comfortably.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, surprising Sakura who turned to see Naruto and Hinata on a bed naked and sweaty and connected at the hip.

"Whoops, sorry, wrong room." The pinkette said, covering her bra-clad chest since she was topless. 'Damn, I walked in on them twice in one day?'

"Wait, Sakura-chan, why do you have wings?" Naruto asked, not expecting that for her.

Sakura was about to answer, but she was suddenly overcome with lust. Seeing Naruto again and being this close to his incubus aura was getting her really aroused, and her growing succubus side was more vulnerable to it than her human side had been. Right then she was strongly tempted to take the rest of her clothes off and turn this into a threesome. Her hands were already reaching for her shorts when she regained her senses. Ashamed of herself, she grabbed her dress and fled the room, heading for the right one this time.

"That was weird." Naruto commented.

Hinata nodded. "Yeah. I hope she doesn't show up every time we make love. Otherwise we'll eventually have to ask her to join."

Naruto smiled. "My, is my shy little Hinata-chan actually suggesting a three-way?"

"Would you rather we stop having sex until she's not around instead?" She replied.

"Are you kidding? You're better than ramen and you know how hard it is to get me to stop having that." He replied.

Hinata smiled. "Coming from you Naruto-kun that's a great compliment." She kissed him and he forgot all about Sakura's interruption as he went back to pleasing his mate.

* * *

><p>"Sakura?" Ino asked as she knocked on the door. It was locked so after a moment of silence she used the room key to open it. She walked in along with the others, and they saw Sakura huddled on one of the beds in the room, dress still off since her wings were in the way. She looked afraid for some reason.<p>

"Is something wrong?" Ayame asked, coming close to the girl then sitting beside her.

"I... might have made a fool of myself. I accidentally walked in on Naruto and Hinata." Sakura confessed.

"That would be awkward." Isaribi noted.

Ino felt there was more to this. "So why do you look like a beaten puppy?"

"I'm trying to restrain myself. Something about Naruto right now is so... intoxicating to me. I was this close to jumping him and... well I shouldn't say it with Moegi here."

"And?" Ino asked.

"I'm just surprised is all. If those girls we saw at the pool felt this way no wonder they wanted him. But if I end up like that, what would make me any different than them?"

"Trust me, you're different." Ino told her friend. "Those girls don't even want to try to be friends with Naruto, they just want him to give them something then go away. They're like gold-diggers for sperm or something. Naruto is no different than any other male to them, except that he fits a specific fetish of theirs. Even at your worst, you never saw Naruto as no different then anyone else."

Sakura weakly smiled. 'True, even when I disliked him he stood out from the other boys in my mind. Not always for the best, but enough that he made a specific impression on me. Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, they were all alike as far as I was concerned, but Naruto was always special in his own way.'

"Thanks Ino, that makes me feel better." Sakura said, then dropped her smile. "But now I'm feeling something else."

"Another body part growing in?" Isaribi asked.

Ino shook her head. "No, she already has the wings and tail. So what's next?"

The answer came when Sakura's chest started to slowly balloon out, making everyone look at her bosom with surprise and interest. Not perverted interest, but normal curiosity some women get when noting breast sizes. The focus on there was strong enough that no one noticed Sakura's hips were slowly widening at the same time.

Her bra got really tight quickly so Sakura took it off. By then her breasts were easily twice their original size and still swelling. Sakura's shorts and panties were getting tight too but not uncomfortably so she ignored that. When her breasts stop growing they were easily one cup size bigger than Hinata's currently were, roughly the size of ripe oranges.

"Holy crap!" Ino said in awe with a hint of jealousy in her eyes.

Sakura quickly stood in front of a mirror, looking at her breasts from the front then from the side. "Wow, I just went from an A-cup to a D-cup. At least, I think this is D-cup size for my age." She touched her breasts and lightly squeezed them, finding them a bit softer than they had been originally. 'Probably because now there's more fat in them.'

"Please tell me there's a way to get those without the other features." Ino asked.

"If there isn't it wouldn't be too bad would it?" Isaribi asked, also a little envious of the pinkette right now. One of the reasons she never swam in a swimsuit, aside from it looking weird with the bandages she still wore, was that it clearly revealed how underdeveloped she was. Isaribi was always jealous of how sexy the girls in bikinis and even one-pieces were on the beaches and felt so plain by comparison. As a result she resorted to simply keeping her clothes on at the beach or in the water, to hide her lack of curves.

Ayame noticed what the others hadn't. "Hey, your hips are different too." Now everyone, including Sakura, checked her waist. They were a bit wider, more mature-looking if you will, and by default her butt was a little plumper but well rounded. Her legs seemed maybe a tiny bit longer, and because her shorts were tight now there was a clearly visible pantie line on her from both sides.

"Wow, if it weren't for your height, you'd look like a fully developed woman right now." Ayame told the younger girl.

"I wonder if the shirt even fits anymore." Isaribi said, referencing the shirt they got at the store.

"She might need some new pants too. Those look uncomfortable." Moegi added.

Ayame nodded. "Right. My gut tells me she needs more clothes, and this time it would be better to go to a real store. Let's go find a store."

"Now it's okay?" Ino asked.

"I don't think we have much of a choice now. We'll just have to remember our way back here."

"What about Naruto and Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"If we're lucky they'll never know we left."

* * *

><p>At another part of town Tsunade was looking over the results of her transformation spell in an alley away from prying eyes. Kushina and Shizune were the only eyes around. Katsuyu had to leave since the casino didn't want her in the casino and wished her summoner luck.<p>

"Wings, check. Tail, check. So far it's going exactly as planned." Tsunade stated, looking herself over. At the moment her gambler jacket was off and some cuts had been made in her clothes to let her new features out. "Now there are two things to test. First, the easy one."

Tsunade put her hands together in the tiger sign and tried to flare her chakra. "Release."

Nothing happened.

"Umm... Tsunade-sama?" Kushina asked. "You do remember that as a succubus you should no longer have chakra right?"

"I thought I'd have some left before the transformation finished." The slug sannin stated.

Kushina shrugged. "Maybe. I sort of assumed your chakra would convert to mana first to help make the rest of the change possible. I know I lost all of Kyuubi's chakra before I grew my wings and tail."

"Hmm..." Tsunade thought before she tried channeling her chakra like she was ready to shatter the ground with her fists. She had enough experience with it that usually she barely felt it anymore, so this time she had to make a conscious effort to feel for it. To her surprise, she felt nothing. "Maybe my chakra is gone now."

"Wait, then why is your age-concealing genjutsu still up?" Shizune asked.

Surprised, Tsunade looked at her hands, now noticing they weren't wrinkled or old-looking. Feeling her face, she found the same results. 'Without chakra I shouldn't be able to support my disguise anymore. By all accounts, right now I should look my real age. Older in fact thanks to the Creation Rebirth jutsu. But instead I still look young.'

"Don't you remember what I said about succubi aging?" Kushina asked. "Old age for us doesn't start until after 113. Tsunade-sama might be old by human standards, but a succubus her age would look like a human in her late twenties, mid-thirties at the oldest."

At that moment Tsunade suddenly remembered why she accepted the change in the first place, to have a body fit enough to give birth again. "I must have gotten carried away in the casino. I can't believe that detail skipped my mind."

"I'm just glad you weren't losing all your money." Shizune mentioned.

Tsunade nodded. "Yep, guess Kushina's got the same devil's luck Naruto does when in comes to chance. Now I know where he gets it from."

Footsteps alerted the three women to someone approaching and all got defensive, but calmed when they saw it was only Ayame. "Hi Ayame-san, what brings you here?" Kushina greeted.

"Well we needed to see you and this was the only casino we could find. And since we can't go in I thought about sneaking in around back and to my surprise you're here. Anyway, Sakura's clothes don't exactly fit her anymore so we need to go buy her some new clothes."

"Oh, of course." Kushina said before digging into one of her hidden pockets and pulling out some of the currency used in this world that they had won at the casino. "This should be enough. I'm sure you can find a store somewhere. How is she by the way?"

"She's looking a lot like Tsunade-sama right now, but a little uncomfortable given she's practically wearing spandex now." The ramen chef answered.

"Go help her." Kushina said. Ayame nodded then left.

* * *

><p>Luckily the girls had found a clothing store, thanks to Ino. It was almost like the Yamanaka heiress had a sixth sense for this sort of thing. Sakura had to put on the shirt they got for her at the hotel gift store, but it was as tight as her shorts were so it was a bit uncomfortable. And since she wasn't wearing a bra she was a little self-conscious about her new bosom bouncing around.<p>

But with everyone's help, she managed to assemble a rather likable outfit. A dark red sleeveless blouse with a zipper down the front and wing slits in the back, more relaxed black shorts designed to accommodate her tail, and two pink sets of bras and panties that fit her new frame. For a little touch of flair she decided to get a short pink apron shirt to go around her waist, some pink elbow bands, and some black gloves that looked nice and durable to her.

"Looking good Sakura. Before we leave I should get a new outfit myself." Ino said, looking back towards a purple ensemble she had liked.

"Maybe, but we can only afford this right now." Sakura said, looking herself over in the mirror. "Think I can wear this out instead of taking it off to pay for it?"

"Let me go get a cashier and find out." Ayame offered then went to find an employee.

"I bet Boss will like that outfit on you." Moegi told the pinkette.

Sakura lightly smiled. "Yeah, I bet he will." The way she said it sounded like she had only been half-listening.

"Something on your mind?" Isaribi asked, catching the distracted tone.

Before Sakura could answer Ayame returned with an employee, one that looked like a normal human woman. "I understand you want to wear this out?" Sakura nodded and the employee pulled out a price check scanner. "Just show me the tags and you can." All the tags were scanned, including the ones on the underwear Sakura was wearing, and the spare set was put in a bag. "Alright, I'll ring this up at the register and you're good to go." Ayame followed her back to cover the bill.

"So what's on your mind?" Isaribi repeated.

"Not much, I just... can't really get that memory of Naruto and Hinata out of my mind." Sakura confessed.

"Was his body good?" Ino teased.

"What do you mean good?" Moegi asked.

"You'll understand when you're older." The platinum blonde told the younger girl.

Ayame came back with the receipt. "Good news, we've got plenty of cash to spare. So I guess we can afford a little more shopping now."

Ino perked up. "Great! This one little number has my name all over it." She then darted off.

"Hey, I'm not letting you use the whole budget!" Isaribi claimed before hoping to find something she could use before Ino spent all the remaining cash.

"I could use something new while I'm here." Ayame told herself before checking around, followed by Moegi.

Seeing everyone look around the store, Sakura couldn't help but look outside. 'I'm done here, so maybe I should...' Grabbing her bag, she did something she knew she was probably going to get trouble for. She left the store unannounced.

* * *

><p>Naruto was out of bed and washing his face, trying to get the sweat out of his eyes. 'Wow, four times in one day? Guess I'm more of a pervert than I wanted to believe. Then again so is Hinata-chan, she didn't want to stop at all.' He turned around and saw his lover sleeping comfortably and soundly on the bed, looking worn up but pleased to be that way.<p>

'Strange thing is, I still feel ready for more, but I know she's had enough. I don't want to push her any further, but damn I'm still horny. I know Okaa-san said this was normal, but it's inconvenient sometimes.' He added.

There was a knock at his door. "Who could that be? I really hope it's not one of those girls hoping I'll sleep with them." He complained. He put on his pants then opened the door a little so see who was there. "Hello?"

"Hi Naruto. Can I talk to you for a bit?"

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" He asked, seeing his teammate. "Are those wings?"

"I really need to talk to you alone Naruto. Can I come in?" Sakura repeated.


	25. Chapter 25

_Recommended Story: 'Supreme Genetics Creation of a New Bloodline' by Kingkakashi_

**Lemon this chapter you have been warned. And before anyone complains, let me remind you that in the third chapter I said that the only girls guaranteed to be in Naruto's harem are Hinata and Sakura.**

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Can I come in?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked to the bed, seeing Hinata still sound asleep. "We'll have to be really quiet."

Sakura saw the sleeping girl. "Actually, maybe the other room would be better. More private... so we don't have to whisper."

"Alright." Naruto agreed before going back to the bed, unaware Sakura was staring at his ass in the process. "Hey Hinata-chan?" He gently cooed as he jostled her a bit to get her to wake up to some degree.

"Eh? Naruto-kun? What is it?" She asked as she barely began to wake up.

"Sakura-chan wants to talk. I just thought I'd let you know so you wouldn't be worried if you woke up and I wasn't here."

The Hyuuga heiress smiled warmly. "Thanks. Have fun you two." She said as she went back to sleep.

Naruto brushed some of her hair out of her face then went back to Sakura, who motioned for him to come with her. He closed the door and followed her to the other room they had, noticing Sakura's body as she walked ahead of him. 'Those are definitely wings and a tail. Did she change herself? But why?' Sakura had her wings folded together over the front of her body so he couldn't see her other changes yet.

Sakura opened the door to the room most of her changes had occurred in and she didn't close it until Naruto was in with her. "I imagine you're a little surprised by this." She started.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, how did that happen? And did you really have wings that first time you came to the other room?"

Sakura nodded. "I did, they were just starting to grow in."

"But why are they growing in the first place? You weren't secretly born a succubus were you?" He asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No Naruto, I was born a human. But I chose to become a succubus." She held out her hand to stop his inevitable follow-up question. "Let me finish. Naruto, I always thought that because I got good grades in the academy that meant I had a natural talent for being a ninja. But obviously I was the weak link in our old team."

"Sakura-chan you weren't that bad. You did help us in the Forest of Death after all." Naruto reminded her.

"Yes, but I only lasted long enough for our friends to come reinforce us. Had they not I would not have been able to defend you or Sasuke for much longer. Not to mention aside from that I never was able to do any real fighting before or since. Even in the invasion I couldn't do much. I want to do more, especially with us having to rely on each other. I want to be able to contribute something more than just memorized facts. If being a succubus allows me to be more helpful, than I'm all for it."

"What about your parents? What if they won't accept this?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't plan on living with them forever Naruto. And let's face it, we both have no clue how long we're going to be away. Sure I hope they can accept my choice, but I can't live my life basing all my choices on what others think. Look at what I was like before. My hair, my weight, my focus, all of that was because I thought Sasuke wanted it, not because _I_ wanted it. I don't want to go back to that, to letting my identity be controlled by what someone else deems preferable."

"Still, you've got to admit this is a big chance." Naruto told her, finding himself feeling rather weird.

"Oh I know. But I was prepared for that. Are you saying you think I shouldn't have done this?" Sakura asked, feeling weird too. Neither one truly noticed but they had stepped closer to each other.

"Well this isn't really my decision to make, and besides, it's not like you did this for me right?" Naruto replied.

Sakura blushed. "Actually Naruto, the truth is... I did do this for you. For me too, but for you as well."

"For me? Why?" Naruto said.

Sakura sat down, and Naruto joined her, sitting close each to put his arm around her if he wanted to. He refrained, but their tails subconsciously began to intertwine. Both also noticed the other smelled very good, appealing in fact, and despite the fact their crotches were trying to get their attention at the moment, the two focused on just each other as best they could.

"Remember how I said I wanted this because I thought it would help me get stronger?" She asked, and he nodded. "The reason I want to get stronger is so I can help you. Help you like a teammate should. Help you like a _friend_ should. I couldn't do that before, but now I can. And not just in fights. Now that I'm like this, you won't feel so alone anymore now that your body is changing."

"I'm not alone." Naruto instinctively countered. "But I must admit it would be nice not being the only one new to all this."

Sakura nodded and scooted a bit closer, trying her hardest not to rub her thighs together. Their tails were rubbing against each other in a way most similar to tongues in a French kiss, and it was getting both of them a little hot under the control. But it felt too good to just stop.

"You'll help me with this too right Naruto?" She asked, leaning against him.

"You have to ask?" He asked back, wrapping his arms around her middle in a comforting hug. His fingers lightly caressed her wings, getting Sakura even more aroused than she already was.

'Now I think I understand why Kushina-sama said touching wings is personal.' "I'd rather not assume. That would be like taking advantage of you." Sakura replied, finding herself no longer interested in talking. But there was one more subject to discuss. "Hey Naruto, have you and Hinata... talked about other girls yet?"

Warning signals went off inside the blonde's head but he didn't know why. "Sort of, why do you ask?"

"What did you two decide?" She added, ignoring his question.

"I don't think we really decided anything. I mean, Hinata-chan did say I can't ignore my urges, but..." He paused for a moment, not sure how best to say what he needed to. "I still feel like being with any girl other than her would be cheating on her."

"It's only cheating if you're not supposed to be with them Naruto." Sakura said.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Hinata-chan said the same thing this morning."

Sakura smiled. "Want to know what she told me this morning after we got rid of that succubus?" Naruto looked at her curiously. "She said that I could be one of your other girls, if you would still accept me."

That sure surprised Naruto. "Wait a minute, you mean after all this time, you _now_ want to be with me? Why? What changed? I won't be a substitute for Sasuke."

"You can't be a substitute for someone I never really had Naruto." Sakura told him. "Besides, remember how you took the time to really think about if you wanted to be with Hinata after... you stopped wanting me?" She sounded a bit sad at that.

Naruto tightened his arms around her, no longer caressing, and she leaned against him, her back to his front. "I never stopped wanting to be your friend Sakura-chan. But you have to understand, after getting nothing but rejection for years and I've finally made progress moving on, it's very hard for me to just take you back in my heart like before."

"I know, and I'm sorry." She said.

"Sakura-chan, before I even consider it, tell me why you'd want this. I understand why you don't want Sasuke anymore, especially after you told me what he did to you. But why would I only now be appealing to you? How do I know I'm not just your rebound the way Hinata-chan worried she'd be mine?" He asked.

"I've been thinking about it ever since we left Konoha. When it came to Sasuke, I first thought I liked him when we were kids and I didn't know many boys other than him and you. Ino and I broke our friendship because I assumed a fight between us was inevitable and friendship would only make it worse when it happened. I don't want that to happen again. To ensure I don't do the same thing to Hinata, I started thinking about why I was so into Sasuke in the first place then and why I had to have him above all else, and now I realized why."

"Why?" Naruto asked, not sure where this was going, but Sakura looked ashamed for a bit as she answered.

"Pride. I didn't want Sasuke just because I liked him, I was using him to measure myself as a woman, as a means of self-deluded confidence."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "How does that work?"

"Simple, Sasuke was the prized boy at the time. The best boy in the world at the time, or so we thought. To us, only the best girl in the world deserved to be with him or could even hope to get his attention. We got competitive, each of us desiring to prove that we were that girl, and I got caught up in it. Looking back, now I understand why no one respects a fan girl. We weren't doing all that for Sasuke, we were doing it for ourselves. None of us ever truly liked him, we were just fixated on the idea of having him so we could rub it in the other girl's faces. It wasn't love that made me what I was, it was my own stupid pride and vanity."

"Good thing for me then that Hinata-chan wasn't so competitive." Naruto joked.

Sakura no longer looked ashamed. Instead she gave Naruto possibly the warmest expression she had ever given him. "She didn't have to be. She already knew who the best boy in the world truly was."

"Thanks, but I'm not that special." Naruto said modestly.

Unable to resist her urge any longer, Sakura positioned herself to sit on his lap facing him. She could feel his erection and got some ideas, but restrained herself. She leaned into him and planted her lips on his. He was surprised, but he found himself returning it without thought. Sakura then pulled away. "You just got my first kiss. That sure makes you special, Naruto... kun." She added the friendly suffix to test his reaction.

"Sakura-chan, I'm flattered, but you still haven't answered my question. Why me and why now?" Naruto repeated.

"Because I'm not trying to feel important now Naruto." She stated. "I'm trying to be strong, able to contribute to our group and keep you safe. But that's something you can't give me. The strength I want can only be acquired by my own efforts. I can use you for motivation, but that's all. The reason I'm choosing you now is because to me you're worth it. You're worth fighting with and fighting for." She then paused for a second. "Well, actually there is one other way I could use you, but it's strictly voluntary."

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"We both have needs now right? Meaning we both now can get those Frenzies Kushina-sama told us about. I am more than willing to help you when you need it. Will you help me when I need it Naruto-kun?" She added the suffix without realizing it, and when she did, she wasn't surprised by how natural it felt.

Naruto thought it over for about two seconds. "I do feel weird, but I sure as hell am not going to tell you to go have sex with some guy you don't even know. I'd be a hypocrite if I did considering what I told those other succubi after me. So... yeah Sakura-chan, when you need it, I'll help you."

Sakura smiled like she had just been offered her greatest wish. "Thank you Naruto-kun." She kissed hm again, and he was without hesitation this time. "Naruto-kun, will you... make love to me now?"

"Now? Are you having a Frenzy now?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never had one before. I'm horny, that's for sure, and I know you are, but that could just be normal for us. I'm more thinking along the lines that if we do this now, when an actual Frenzy comes up it won't feel so weird when we start. We won't have any awkwardness to get in the way then and maybe make things worse."

Naruto nodded. "Good point. But first, I need to go talk to Hinata-chan. If I don't I'd feel like I was cheating on her despite the open arrangement."

Sakura smiled and nodded. "You're a good man Naruto-kun. Definitely worthy of being our future hokage." He got up and went out. 'And my soon-to-be mate.'

* * *

><p>"Hinata-chan?"<p>

The sleeping Hyuuga heiress woke up. "Yeah Naruto-kun?"

"I was talking to Sakura-chan in the other room. She became a succubus now and wanted to talk to me about it."

"Ah, so she accepted the offer." Hinata noted. "Is she okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but she asked me something. She said she wants us to... you know... because she now gets Frenzies too. Remember how we told that other succubus girl I wouldn't be with her since I didn't know her at all? Wouldn't it be wrong to tell Sakura-chan to go find a guy she doesn't know to handle her urges?"

Hinata nodded. "Yeah, you're right. So what's the problem?"

"No real problem. She offered to help me like you've been doing and asked me to do the same for her. But she wants us to have sex now so this way there's no tension between us when a Frenzy comes. It's a tempting offer but I couldn't in good conscience accept without your knowing. I'd feel like I was being unfaithful."

Hinata smiled, feeling flattered. "Thank you Naruto-kun, that means a lot to me. But remember what I told you, I can't keep you to myself in this regard. Besides, Sakura told me she does have feelings for you, maybe even love."

Naruto was surprised. "You think she loves me?"

"To some degree, yes. I'm not sure how much, but don't worry about that. Go give her the help she needs, like I did for you."

"You sure?" Naruto asked, hoping she wasn't just saying that.

Hinata nodded. "Yes. If you're still horny for more, maybe you really should have more than just one lover. I need some rest myself. But after you're done, please come back to me."

Naruto nodded. "I will." He leaned in and kissed her, which she returned. "I love you Hinata-chan."

"I love you too Naruto-kun. Be good to Sakura."

"Hey, maybe we can actually do that threesome idea later." Naruto joked.

"You perv." Hinata teased. When he left, she laid down by too awake to go to sleep. 'But what would that be like?'

* * *

><p>Naruto went back to the second room and saw Sakura sitting on the bed, wings covering her body like they had been from the beginning. But Naruto noticed something was off. On the floor he saw clothes he didn't see there before, including a bra.<p>

"What did she say?" Sakura asked.

"She said it's a good idea. I can tell she wishes we didn't have to do this, but I think she's accepted it as inevitable and is hoping to make the best." Naruto replied. "Why are there clothes scattered around?"

"Oh, I wanted to show you something when you got back." Sakura said before standing up. She then unfolded her wings, revealing underneath them she was now wearing nothing except her panties. But of course the most notable thing aside from her nudity was her enormous chest. "See anything you like?"

"Wow, you actually have boobs now." Naruto said. 'They're bigger than Hinata-chan's.'

"Yep, came with the rest of the new stuff." She said as she cupped them, pushing them up. "Go on, touch them."

Not nervous anymore, Naruto gently grasped the fleshy orbs, making Sakura moan. 'They're really soft.' The blonde thought, lightly squeezing the breasts.

"Feels good." Sakura said. "Hey Naruto-kun, now that I have these, there's something Ino once told me about that I want to try."

"What's that?"

"Take off your pants." Sakura ordered.

With some reluctance Naruto removed his hands from Sakura's chest and did exactly what she asked him to. He left the boxers on in a moment of hesitation but they followed, revealing his erection to her.

"Wow." Sakura said. "I don't really have any others to compare it to, but it's not disappointing. Plus it proves my theory that some hentai comics and videos exaggerate male sizes."

"You're into porn?" Naruto asked.

"Just normal teenage curiosity. But some of the ones I've seen made you think a man's penis is practically a third leg. There is such a thing as too big you know." She admitted. She then knelt down in front of him, making Naruto try the same. "No don't, stay up for this. You can lean against the wall though. This is something I was hoping to do someday once I got the figure for it."

"What is it?" Naruto repeated, still not sure what she had in mind.

Without a word, Sakura parted her breasts and brought them to his crotch. Once in position she pressed them together, wrapping his cock in her mounds with the head poking out at her. She smiled at him with a blush and started to massage him.

"Does this feel good?" She asked huskily. "I bet you didn't know they could be used this way."

"No I didn't." He said, enjoying the soft caress.

"I couldn't have done this when my breasts were smaller, but now..." Sakura tried increasing the speed of her massage without pressing too hard on herself. Looking at his tip with a touch of precum, she got curious and slowly licked it like testing a popsicle's flavor.

Upon tasting the white substance, Sakura was overcome with arousal more than she had been before. 'Must... make... Naruto-kun... cum...' She thought in a bit of a daze before ending her tit-fuck and holding his dick directly.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, surprised by her sudden change in tactics, but he was even more surprised when she started taking him in her mouth. He saw her bob her head up and down his shaft, using her tongue and the insides of her cheeks to stimulate him. And of course he could feel her sucking on him like she was trying to get something out of him.

Despite his nervousness at having teeth right around that particular part of his body, Naruto also found him overcome with arousal. He and Hinata had stuck to the basics of sex before since they were still new to it and hadn't tried anything like fellatio, but he was really enjoying this act.

"Sakura-chan, I'm cumming." He warned, expecting her to release him. On the contrary, she sped up and ensured he burst into her mouth. The taste actually made Sakura come close to cumming herself.

Worn out a bit from the orgasm, his umpteenth of the day and it was only hours from dinner, Naruto sat on the floor. "Sakura-chan?" He saw some of his semen spill out of her mouth but she caught most of it in her hand. What she didn't catch dripped onto her breasts.

"Wow, that was more than I expected. Better tasting too." She said as she ingested it again then cleaned herself off. "I wonder if our new species are why that is."

"You liked that? I would have thought it would taste gross."

"Didn't Hinata like it?" Sakura asked.

"She didn't try that." He answered.

Still turned on, Sakura slowly stood up and wiggled her way out of her panties. Once nude, she sat on the bed with her legs spread out. "I want you to do to me everything you did to Hinata Naruto-kun."

With recovery time that was possibly too good even for a jinchuuriki, Naruto's body was ready for more. He got on the bed and Sakura laid on her back under him as he positioned himself. Naruto then revealed his incubus features in order to match her and test her willingness to accept him as he was. Sakura tried rubbing her hips against his in an encouraging manner, and he took the signal.

Sakura gasped when she felt him start to enter. 'It... it feels like when I stretch my muscles. I thought it would hurt more, but it feels relaxing instead.' She felt him at her hymen, him pausing as if to test how fragile it was. Before she could tell him to continue he did it on his own. Expecting pain for sure, Sakura actually ended up having a mini-orgasm instead. She had no idea why, but right then she could care less.

Naruto paused to let her adjust, but she looked like she had never been so pleasured in her life, and just from him sticking it inside her. 'I wonder if succubi feel this sort of thing differently than humans do.' He wondered.

"Wow, just you entering me made me cum." Sakura exclaimed softly. "Let's see how much our new bodies can take. Pound me with everything you've got Naruto-kun."

Without a word Naruto started moving in and out, with a relaxed pace to start them both off slowly. Sakura's whole body rocked with the motions, and she soon moved her body with his to maximize the sensations of him rubbing her insides.

"Oh Kami-sama, it feels like I'm one big G-spot right now." Sakura said while panting as Naruto started thrusting faster.

"Whenever I try to pull out it feels like your insides are trying to suck me back in." He told her.

"Harder Naruto-kun! Go deeper! Give it to me!" Sakura pleaded, wrapping her legs around his waist and her tail in his. Naruto complied and moved like he was drilling for something inside the pinkette. "Yes! This is great! Don't stop!"

After a while Sakura felt something new build up within her. "I... I think I'm gonna cum." She said, her body moving faster in need of getting relief.

"Hold on a minute, I'm almost there." Naruto told her.

"I... I can't hold out much longer." Sakura said, trying to restrain herself but not doing a good job at it.

Fortunately she didn't have to. Naruto came in her and she climaxed like her life depended on it. The strange sensation of his semen splashing around inside her only added to it, at least in her opinion.

The orgasms died down and the two collapsed on the bed to catch their breaths, Naruto using Sakura's breasts as pillows. Sakura wrapped her arms around him under his wings, holding him close to her. He withdrew from her and she could feel some of his cum drip out of her opening.

"Good for more?" Sakura asked, ready for another session. Maybe more.

Naruto panted a bit before answering. "I don't know. Even I get tired Sakura-chan."

The pinkette responded by rolling him onto his back and positioning herself above him. "Then relax and this time let me do the work." Grabbing his member she softly fondled it until it got hard again and she guided it back inside herself before dropping herself on him for full impalement. If Naruto wanted to object, clearly he chose not to.

Lifting her hips then dropping them Sakura set off a slow rhythm at first, wanting to savor the feeling of him inside her. Each motion, despite her attempt to prolong it, got marginally faster and harder each time. Soon enough, Sakura was practically hammering herself on him while never once getting separated from him.

As she rode him, Naruto saw something new on her left arm that hadn't been there before. She had an orange ring just like Hinata did, in the same place, but this one had no red stripe in the middle.

Seeing it, Naruto smiled. After all the effort he had put into getting Sakura's love, he now had it. While Hinata was now the dominant girl in his heart, Sakura always would be a girl he cared for. And to be honest, even before she offered herself to him Sakura had already been Naruto's first choice for who to have after Hinata. He had actually intended to talk to the girls about it eventually; he hadn't expected them to beat him to it and Sakura to go to him. Honestly, he thought she still needed time to get over Sasuke.

'I guess she really didn't love him as much as she thought she did.' He thought.

Moments later they both climaxed. Sakura arched her back and straightened her wings when it hit her, and Naruto grabbed her hips as if to hold her in place until it was over.

When it ended the two laid down panting hard. Naruto put his hand on her arm. "Sakura-chan, can we maybe take a break for a while?"

"Why? Getting tired?" Sakura teased.

"Maybe you should try pleasing two girls all morning and afternoon, then tell me how energetic you are." He retorted.

"Hmm..." Sakura put her hand on her chin. "Get Hinata and another girl and I might just find out for sure."

Naruto just closed his eyes, created a clone, and went to sleep, but he did have a faint nosebleed. Sakura giggled and curled up against him before she too fell asleep. The clone went to the other room and came back carrying Hinata, depositing her in the bed on Naruto's open side before dispelling. The Hyuuga heiress got comfortable against him too and resumed her own rest.


	26. Chapter 26

_Recommended Story: 'Namikaze, Senju, or Uzumaki' by vanorkt_

Chapter Twenty-Six

It didn't take long for the group to realize that Sakura was no longer with them. Fortunately, thanks to Ayame, they didn't panic.

"She probably just went off to go show Naruto her new look. So if that's the case, the best thing we can do is leave her alone." The ramen chef told the younger girls, who all agreed.

Ino however was less comforted. "What if she didn't? What if someone abducted her?"

Ayame just smiled. "Do you really think someone could abduct that girl without anyone here knowing it? Besides even if they could, who would want to? Trust me, she's fine. And if she's with Naruto, she's probably better than fine."

Ino strongly blushed at the implication, and the accompanying mental image of her friend and her fellow blonde doing various things in a bed. She had to push the thought from her mind. 'I wonder what his mom will say about all this.'

* * *

><p>"Kushina?"<p>

"Yes?" The redhead asked, turning around to see the unfamiliar approacher. They looked like a white-haired elf in a business suit, wearing an insignia of a heartagram, the symbol of Ai no Kuni, on his left breast pocket.

"The Royal Council has requested your presence immediately. As well as that of your son, the incubus."

Kushina frowned. "My son has a name you know."

"I'm aware, but I do not know his name and have only been informed of his species so I did not have any other way to refer to him here." The elf clarified.

"I suppose. Is this meeting about anything in particular or do I already know what it's about?"

"Since it involves your son, I'm pretty sure no explanation is necessary."

Kushina sighed. "That's what I was afraid of. When do they want us?"

"They want you to head to the capital immediately. But the given time of the meeting is bound to be early tomorrow morning." The elf stated.

"Fine, let me round up my group then. I'm not leaving without them." Kushina insisted.

The elf nodded. "No problem. Anything you want me to tell them before you get there?"

"Yes, if they're thinking what I think they are, then the answer's no." Kushina said before leaving to go get Tsunade and Shizune. The elf then left to go about his own business. "So it's finally time." Kushina said to herself before going back to Tsunade.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up and immediately felt something was amiss, but he couldn't identify it right away. 'It's not as warm as it was before.' Looking at his sides he saw the problem, Hinata and Sakura were both awake and out of bed.<p>

"Wow, I never thought you'd ever have a bigger chest than me." Hinata's voice could be heard.

"You jealous?" Sakura's voice was heard too, her tone mildly teasing.

Naruto looked up and saw what the girls were doing. Both girls were in the small kitchen area of the hotel room looking like they were making some food, and to Naruto's surprise both girls were completely nude except for some aprons. Their backs were to him so they couldn't see he was awake, and it meant he got a good eyeful of their succulent rear ends. Sakura's tail kept slowly swinging back and forth, as if trying to draw his eyes to her rear the most.

"No, because I'm all natural, and I'll bet once I become a succubus mine will outclass yours all over again." Hinata teased back.

"You should have seen how jealous Ino was when they started growing." Sakura added. "Speaking of growing, the one thing that I didn't get for some reason was my missing tooth back. Weird, everything about my body changed except for that."

Hinata shrugged. "I guess magic doesn't come with a dental plan."

Sakura giggled. "It doesn't matter, I think I prefer that tooth gone. Now every time I see that gap, I'll remember my biggest mistake and never want to repeat it."

"Oh, and that mark on your arm isn't reminder enough?" Hinata teased.

"Good point. By the way, why does yours have a red strip but mine does?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I was Naruto-kun's first girl?"

"I'm actually a bit jealous of that." Sakura noted.

"No more than I was jealous of you back in the Academy, since you got all of his attention back then."

"That was probably my fault. I mean, I could have told him about you but I never did."

"We already covered that, so let's not open that wound again." Hinata stated. "Wait, take that off the heat before it burns."

"Sorry." Sakura said before moving a boiling pot. "I don't have a lot of practice cooking without a microwave."

"Well Naruto-kun does have a big appetite so if you want to be with him you're going to have to get better at cooking." Hinata pointed out.

Sakura grinned. "Considering what he does with all that energy, I'd say it's completely worth it."

"No question there." Hinata added with a knowing smile of her own.

"Hey girls, what are you making?" Naruto asked, getting up out of bed buck naked. "And where are my clothes?"

The two girls turned around and grinned at their shared mate. "Did you sleep well Naruto-kun?"

"How long was I out?" He asked.

"Not long, a couple of hours." Sakura answered. "And it was worth every moment if you ask me."

"So where are my clothes?" Naruto repeated, well aware that his mates were eye-humping him right now. It didn't bother him, but he wasn't a nudist by heart either.

"Why? It's not like you need to hide anything from us." Hinata asked.

"And if you're cold I could warm you up." Sakura said sensually, strongly tempted to go up to him and go at it all over again.

Right then the door to the room opened, and Ino came in. "Sakura you in...?" She just dropped the question once she saw everyone. Sakura and Hinata wearing nothing but aprons and Naruto wearing nothing, period, and doing very little to hide that at the moment. The platinum blondes' eyes went right for the whiskered blonde and she could not bring herself to look away from him. And if she was honest with herself, she didn't hate what she saw. Not by a long shot.

Right behind Ino was Isaribi, Ayame, Moegi, and Kushina, and they all saw the same thing Ino did. That was when Naruto remembered he could cover himself with his wings. "What are you doing here?" He yelled, his face bright red. Sakura and Hinata were blushing too, but they were already covered up and only girls were looking at them now.

"Well I can't speak for everyone, but I need to talk to you Son. Once you're dressed of course." Kushina said, looking the least surprised of the group. "Don't be too long, we're checking out of this hotel. We have to go somewhere."

"Where?" Hinata asked.

"I'll explain along the way. Now, you three try not to get hot and heavy again. In fact, just to make sure of that..." Kushina then pushed the other girls into the room before closing the door behind them, chuckling a little when she finished.

Naruto turned to his two lovers. "My clothes please?"

"They're in the restroom Naruto-kun." Sakura told him, and he quickly went in there.

"So, judging by those yellow rings on your arms I'm guessing I was right about why Sakura left the group." Ayame noted.

Sakura blushed but smiled. "I regret nothing."

"Don't blame you. Did you see that butt of his?" Isaribi asked.

"I'm more interested in the front side." Sakura noted, then looked at Ino who was still staring at the restroom door. "Hey Ino, snap out of it."

"Huh? What were you saying?" The mindwalker asked when she came to.

"Wow, did the sight of Naruto-kun naked fry your brain Ino?" Sakura jested.

"Well can you blame her Sakura? That was probably her first time seeing someone who actually has something to use, unlike a certain emo." Hinata added.

"I... I wasn't... I mean he... that..." Ino tried to speak but it was as if she had no idea what she really wanted to say.

'Boy I hoped I never sounded like that.' Hinata thought.

"What Blondie here is too bashful to ask is does he perform as good as he looks?" Isaribi asked.

"Hey!" Ino objected.

"Oh please, you were looking at him like you would have ripped off your own clothes if he so much as smiled. You want to know what I want to know, I'm just the one who actually asked." The swimming enthusiast countered.

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other, trying to decide what the best way to answer that question was. Then Hinata looked back at them. "I don't think any answer we give would do anything other than make you more curious. Therefore, I'll just say that if you _really_ want to know, you'll just have to see for yourself."

"Even me?" Moegi asked.

That sure made everyone drop a smile. "You're just a kid." Sakura pointed out.

"You're only saying that because I'm younger than you. But face it, I've had a period and I wear a training bra, I'm not some dumb kid who needs to be censored. Besides, did I say I wanted sex now?" Moegi argued. "I can wait a few years, but I don't appreciate being told I'm not an option even when I am older."

"Well what if by then you find someone else you like that way instead?" Hinata asked.

Moegi shrugged. "Definitely possible, even highly likely to happen, so what are you afraid of now?"

The restroom door opened and Naruto came out, dressed and hiding his incubus features. "You two should probably get dressed too." He told Sakura and Hinata, who both nodded and went inside together since both their clothes were already inside that room.

There was an awkward silence in the main room now, neither Naruto nor the other girls knowing what to say. Naruto couldn't even look at the girls, embarrassed that his foster sister, fellow blonde, new friend, and a younger girl saw him like that.

"We should go skinny dipping next time we swim." Isaribi said, getting a lot of weird looks. "There, now the ice is broken. I hate awkward silences."

"What exactly are you all here for anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Well it's about time for dinner, that's a start." Ayame pointed out.

Naruto looked mildly surprised. "Dinner? So I've spent the whole day in bed with Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan?"

'The whole day?' Ino repeated in her mind. 'He can handle that much sex? But I was told a guy could barely do it more than three times a day and even that was with medical help.'

"So how many times have you had sex today?" Isaribi asked.

"What do you think? That I kept track of it on a notepad or something? I have no idea."

"Was it... more than three times?" Ino curiously asked.

"It was probably closer to thirteen." Naruto admitted.

"Thirteen times?" All four girls in the room repeated in disbelief.

"Again, I wasn't keeping track, so it's probably thirteen give or take a couple." Naruto bashfully confessed.

"Damn, most girls are lucky to get it from a guy thirteen times a week." Ayame noted, sounding like she might have been speaking from experience.

"No wonder those succubi at the pool wanted him so badly." Isaribi added. "If we weren't pressed on time..." She stopped herself and grinned at Naruto. "Mind letting me have a taste tomorrow?"

Ino looked at the purple-haired girl. "Really?"

Isaribi shrugged. "Don't tell me you're not dying for some of that action."

The restroom door opened again and Sakura and Hinata came out, Sakura showing off her succubus features since she didn't yet know how to hide them.

"So is something going on?" Sakura asked as Hinata went to go check on the food, hoping that it hadn't been burned.

"Sort of. Kushina-san says we've got to go somewhere else right away. But she didn't sound frightened or bothered, like there's a threat involved. No, she sounded more like she's obligated to do this." Ayame answered.

"Well we better pack up then." Naruto said, not seeing a reason to argue with that.

"At least we have something to eat. We're starving here." Hinata added, setting the food onto plates so they could dine first.

"I bet you are, what with all that exercise today." Isaribi teased.

"Worth it." Sakura and Hinata said together.

"Better make it to-go, we've got to check out." Ayame reminded.

* * *

><p>"Ready?" Kushina asked everyone when the entire group was checked out of the hotel. It didn't take them long to leave, since no one really took much with them when they got here.<p>

"We're ready. But where are we going?" Tsunade asked, also showing her succubus features since she didn't know how to hide them.

"Wait, where's your sister Mom?" Naruto asked, noting the absence of Tayuya.

"She's been changed right now and then will be given medical transportation to our destination. The doctors will need to observe her the entire time since that seal really concerns them." Kushina answered. "By the time we get there the change should be complete and they'll know it anything's wrong."

"I'd suggest we fly, but some of us can't." Sakura commented, lightly jabbing the wingless members of the group.

Kushina rubbed her chin. "Hmm... there are four of us with wings, and one... two... six people here without." Tonton oinked in annoyance at being overlooked yet again.

"Forget it. I haven't even flied once yet. I'm not giving anyone a free ride until I've had practice, and nothing short of an emergency is going to change that." Tsunade insisted.

"Alright then, I guess we'll just have to get a ride." Kushina said before starting to walk away. "Follow me."

The group followed her down a street. She led them to a pair of large and luxurious carriages, each having four pink horses with yellow manes and tails strapped in front of them, with an elf seated as the driver for each.

"We're using these?" Shizune asked.

"These look fancy even for a daimyo." Tsunade noted.

"I like the horses." Sakura mentioned.

"How did you get these Kushina?" Tsunade asked.

Kushina smirked and brushed some of her hair aside. "Remember, I'm royalty here. This is nothing compared to what I can request."

"So five in each?" Ayame asked.

"Well we could, but I was thinking the four adults here could use some adult time and the six kids here could use some kid time. So if one of you wants to be with us..." Kushina let one.

Hinata and Sakura each looped their arms around one of Naruto's own. "He's with us." They both said.

"Well duh." Practically everyone said.

"But no sex unless you want an audience or orgy." Kushina warned.

* * *

><p>Back in Konoha, things were starting to unwind.<p>

"I sure hope Tsunade-sama returns soon." Tenten thought out loud as she walked away from training. Neji happened to be walking with her while Gai and Lee were determined to try something new and spontaneous.

"I agree. From what I've heard the mission intact of this village has slowed down. Her old teammate is filling in for her but he seems to just be going thru the motions and making the shinobi council do the bulk of the work. Hiashi-sama is overworked now and that could lead to some clan members taking advantage of his distraction."

"It would be worse if someone tried the same in the absence of the Hokage." Tenten rebutted. "Especially an enemy. If we were invaded again, we'd be fighting like a chicken without a head."

"I wonder how long she's going to be gone, and when she'll be satisfied with whatever she's doing." Neji commented.

Tenten shrugged. "Hard to say, but obviously this threat to her and Naruto has got her addled. In a way it's a good thing, she's showing she means business and her position isn't some token meaningless title to bait us working shinobi into being better employees."

"But why would Naruto be involved? It doesn't make sense for people to target him in the process." Neji asked.

"Not sure why, but from what Shikamaru guessed it's something that coincides with that mission to bring back Sasuke." Tenten mentioned, and kept the fact that Naruto was an incubus secret, per Tsunade's orders. She was honestly shocked at the idea that 'demons' did exist, since she first thought it might be a bloodline of sorts.

Neji nodded at the statement. "I suppose that with the Uchiha returned to Konoha there's a good chance that Naruto is on Orochimaru's last nerve and she might be trying to protect him and Konoha at the same time by keeping the two separate."

"But wouldn't Orochimaru be more interested in getting Sasuke back in his cluthes?" Tenten countered.

"He could but we'd be ready for that. What we wouldn't prepare for ahead of time would be him going after someone else."

As the two chatted, they never noticed Hiashi walking in the street with them.

"Neji! I have something that needs to be discussed with you." The Hyuuga clan head said when he chose to make himself known.

"Yes Hiashi-sama?" Neji asked, curious since it didn't appear like Hiashi had negative intentions in his body language.

"There's someone I need you to meet right away. A possible fiancee for you."

"WHAT?"

* * *

><p>"Here we are." Kushina told the group as the emerged from their carriages.<p>

"Finally! My legs were falling asleep in there." Ino complained as she came out and stretched. Everyone else did the same thing when they left their rides.

"Ah, my shoulders are killing me." Sakura bemoaned as she flexed her stiff wings.

"Wow, fancy place." Tsunade said when she actually saw where they had arrived. Though like Sakura she was also flexing her wings to loosen the muscles.

In front of them was a large stone castle surrounded by something that looked like a moat and a pond at the same time. A stone bridge decorated with ivy was there to to let them cross the water. The castle itself was made of off-white stone bricks with grey ones at the corners. The roofs were domed and covered with red-purple tiles the building itself was roughly three stories tall and as wide as the Hokage Tower was tall.

"Yeah, this is where we're supposed to be." Kushina said, looking like she was familiar with the place but not thrilled to be either either.

"Is this where the daimyo lives?" Ino asked.

"They're called king and queen here, and no. This is one of the palaces where work is done. It's mostly a very well-decorated office. The residential castles are elsewhere." Kushina told her.

"So why would we be brought here?" Naruto asked.

Kushina was reluctant to answer. "Someone wants to speak with you Naruto."

Before he could ask for more, the three doctors from earlier came rushing at them. "Kushina-sama!"

"Yes, is something wrong?"

The head doctor Iyoi fidgeted a bit. "I don't know how else to say this, but your sister... there's been a complication."


	27. Chapter 27

_Recommended Story: 'Leafs new Tree' by CharitysSongbird_

**Lemon this chapter **

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"What exactly do you mean by 'complication'?" Kushina asked, torn between being worried for her sister and furious at the doctor for messing up on something so critical.

"I don't exactly know how to describe it. It would be best if you see it for yourself." Iyou insisted.

"Oh I intend to." Kushina said, then looked to Naruto. "Stay here, I won't be long." He nodded and she left with the doctor.

"I better check this out too. Shizune, come with me." Tsunade said, following the others with her assistant.

"So... what do we do while we wait?" Naruto asked.

"We might as well relax and enjoy the fresh air." Ayame suggested, getting comfortable on the grass laying down.

Sakura tugged Naruto's arm. "Naruto-kun, can you show me how to fly now?"

He smiled. "Sure, why have wings if you can't use them?" He made his own wings and tail appear. "You might be nervous once you start, but trust your body to know what it's doing. Take-off is actually pretty easy, just jump and start flapping them. Like this." He bent his legs then propelled himself off the ground, not unlike a normal ninja jump, and while in the air used his wings to try and get extra lift while moving his body to catch any updrafts. Once he got the lift needed, he used his wings to propel himself forward, and truly fly.

'Alright, I can do this.' Sakura thought, straightening her wings out and readying herself for a large jump too. She leapt, higher than a normal person ever could, and naturally years of experience told her to brace for a landing, but she tried to ignore that instinct and instead put her new wings to work. Using the new muscles felt strange, but no different than if she were flapping her arms. To her joy, it seemed to be working, she was gaining altitude instead of succumbing to gravity. In no time she was able to go forward, using her tail to steer herself.

"I'm flying! I'M FLYING!" She shouted as she tried to catch up with Naruto.

"That can't be as fun as that looks." Isaribi commented as everyone else watched from below.

"Nothing could be more fun than that looks." Ino refuted.

"Still, I think I'll stick to the water."

"You do that. I want wings." Moegi noted.

Ino couldn't help but nod. 'At first all I wanted was the boobs, but the wings would be fun. But are the side-effects worth it? I better hear from Sakura after she's had time to experience more of this change.'

Sakura herself was just enjoying the most freedom she had ever felt in her life. That was the only way to describe the sensation, free.

Naruto came up next to her. "Wanna race?"

"Only if you want to lose!" She teased, having to yell over the rush of win in her ears.

"Okay, first one to that mountain wins!" Naruto said, referencing a mountain peak that was several miles away but not so far that getting back soon would have been unreasonable if they hurried.

With that the two soared in an effort to get ahead of each other. Naruto, the more experienced of the two, was able to maneuver enough to stay in the lead, but Sakura was nothing if not a quick learner, and by paying attention to how he moved his wings and tail she was able to match him in speed soon enough.

"Good job Sakura-chan!" Naruto praised.

"Thanks!" Sakura replied, trying to look at herself for a moment. 'I wonder if the weight of my chest is affecting my momentum. You'd think large breasts wouldn't be very aerodynamic, or too heavy to provide comfortable flight, but so far I'm having no problem at all.' Either way, she couldn't focus on her body for long, except for how to keep it in the air.

The mountain was apparently farther away than it looked, requiring twenty minutes to get close enough to land on it. Her wings getting tired, Sakura really wanted to land, but only then did she realize she didn't know how to.

"Naruto! How do I land?" She asked, sounding a bit scared.

"Watch!" He said, then pulled his wings back for a dive. Meters before he hit the ground he pulled his wings out to act like a parachute and flapped them, but not enough to gain lift, just reduce the pull of gravity. Positioning his body, he was able to drop to his feet harmlessly. He looked up and saw Sakura going in circles to keep herself up. "Now you try. I'll catch you if you need it." He held out his arms to show her she would be safe.

Feeling a great sense of reassurance from her mate, Sakura smiled and decided to go down to him. She didn't dive like he did, but she did descend at a softer angle. There were no trees to get in her way, so she was essentially gliding down to the ground in a spiral pattern. As soon as she tried to move her body so she would be upright, her wings caught a pocket of air like parachutes would and threw her off course, making her fumble backwards, essentially falling now.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, running to catch her. He got there too early and so Sakura fell right on top of him, both collapsing on the ground.

Sakura sat up, groaning and curling her wings up. "Ugh, that was not fun right there. Guess I just need to practice that part a little more." Only then did she realize the ground under her didn't feel like ground, and she saw she was sitting on Naruto's back. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?" She asked in a panic after she got off him, and tried to help him up.

Naruto looked fine, dirty and banged up a bit, but fine. "I'm good." He said as he sat up. "I've survived worse hits from you after all."

Sakura didn't know whether to laugh with him at that, or apologize for having ever hit him in the first place. So instead, she decided to do something that would make him feel better. "I guess since you landed first that means you won the race."

Naruto perked. "Hey yeah, I guess it does."

Sakura then unzipped her shirt to expose her bra-covered breasts and shoved them in his face. "Then here's your reward for winning."

His face in her cleavage, Naruto turned to look at her. "I think I know something I'd rather have."

"What's that?" Sakura asked, curious. To her surprise Naruto leaned in and kissed her. Instantly delighted, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

'He likes kissing me more than he likes my breasts?' Sakura asked herself, not bothered by the idea at all. 'I like that, it means he's not shallow like some boys. I used to be so insecure about my chest, my whole body in general. I always thought maybe it wasn't what Sasuke wanted. But Naruto-kun... I've been both flat and busty and he still thinks of me as beautiful either way. I don't think I can be grateful enough to have him.'

Feeling very frisky, Sakura broke the kiss, grabbed Naruto's hands, and placed them on her breasts, sighing happily at his touch. "Naruto-kun, you have no idea how happy I am that you still care for me. I know you'll forgiven me for what I used to do, but I want you to know, I intend to spend the rest of my life making up for it."

"I want you to enjoy your life Sakura-chan, not waste it feeling like you're working off a debt." He told her, pulling down her bra to expose her breasts without actually removing the garment.

The pinkette reached back and unhooked her bra, letting her torso be completely bare, then rested her hands atop her breasts as if to hold them in place for him. "I'm not wasting it Naruto. You deserve to be loved, and I'm more than happy to give it to you. I love you Naruto-kun." She smiled brighter, glad this time she said it and knew she was saying it. "I love you, my heart belongs to you, and thus so does my life. My life, my body, my spirit, everything that is me is yours Naruto-kun. And I don't ever want to take that for granted."

"I'm the one who should be grateful Sakura-chan. You could have any guy you want." Before he could say more, she put her finger on his lips.

"I don't want any guy. I don't want Sasuke, I don't want Lee, I only want you. Now, if you insist on using your mouth for anything, use it to get me moaning."

Naruto smiled and dove down to her chest, surprising her by taking a nipple between his lips and teasing her with his mouth. Sakura gasped, enjoying the new feeling of Naruto suckling her bosom. She put one hand on his head as to encourage him to keep doing it, and her other hand on his to keep it on her neglected breast. Naruto's free hand in turn went down and tugged at her shorts in an attempt to remove them. Once she felt his actions, she used both of her own hands to help him, and became devoid of all covering except for him and her headband.

Once she was naked, Sakura pulled away from Naruto, taking herself out of his mouth. Smiling, she turned around and got herself on all fours, her rear end pointing to him with a little wiggle to it. "Let's try this way this time."

"This way?" Naruto repeated confused. While the others had been able to inform him properly about sex, they had failed to inform him about the possible positions it could be done in. With his experience with Hinata and Sakura, he knew there was missionary and cowgirl positions, or as he called them, boy-on-top and girl-on-top, but he was unfamiliar with doggy style position.

"Yeah, it's just like the other times, but a new position. C'mon big boy, give me what you've got." She replied, putting more emphasis in her wiggle a bit at the end.

Having no reason to refute, Naruto grabbed her hips and positioned himself properly, making sure she was physically ready for his entrance. Once satisfied, he thrust himself in all the way to the hilt in one go, making Sakura moan with satisfaction. The position felt weird to Naruto, but at the same time it felt easier to thrust in and out, and in no hope he was practically humping her like a wild animal.

And Sakura completely loved it. "Yes! More! I want more!" Her tail wrapped around Naruto's waist to keep him close to her.

With him pulled closer, Naruto leaned forward and grasped her shoulders, holding them as if they were handlebars for him. This forced Sakura's wings to flatten due to his weight on her back. "Are you ready to cum?" He whispered in her ear.

"Not yet, I want more." She told him, closer than she wanted to admit to climaxing but she wanted this to last longer.

He moved his hands from her shoulders back to her breasts, cupping them tightly. "How's this for you?"

That pushed the pinkette over the edge. She climaxed and tightened up so much on Naruto it felt like she was trying to squeeze the life out of his penis. Instead it squeezed out Naruto's own climax and was given a flood of his cum that filled her insides.

The two fell on the ground, breathing heavily and feeling satisfied and exhausted at the same time. After a bit, Sakura turned around to face him while they laid there and recovered, neither in a hurry to get back just yet.

* * *

><p>"Took you long enough." Ino said when Naruto and Sakura returned. "Were you trying to fly around the world?"<p>

"Naw, saving that for later. Just getting used to the basics, including landing." Sakura answered, which wasn't a complete lie. Even here, she felt like she came close to crashing and was currently dusting herself off again. "Birds make it look so easy."

"Who's that?" Naruto asked, seeing someone new around by Hinata and Ayame. It was a man, one with dark purple hair and pale skin, wearing a fancy blue outfit Naruto couldn't begin to describe. Judging by the look on the girls, they weren't exactly comfortable with this man around but couldn't make him leave by force.

The man saw him and went up to Naruto with a smile. "Ah, so the incubus has finally arrived." At close proximity they could only conclude he was an elf of some kind.

"My name is Naruto, not incubus." The blonde replied, annoyed.

"Of course sir, pardon my rudeness. My name is Anton, and I've been sent to welcome you and your mother here."

"Mom's a bit busy at the moment." Naruto mentioned.

"So I've been told. In that case, would you like a tour of the castle and to see the ones who are excited to meet you?" Anton offered.

Naruto felt uneasy about the offer, mostly because Hinata and Ayame still looked like they didn't want the guy to be around. "I'd rather wait until Mom comes back."

"Nonsense my boy, you're old enough to be a man and have clearly taken at least two mates, you don't need your mother to hold your hand for you anymore." Anton insisted.

"No, but I am unfamiliar with everything here and would not want to make the wrong first impression. I am waiting for Mom to come back." Naruto said, crossing his arms to reinforce the finality of his claim.

Anton looked a bit bothered but not impatient or offended. "Sir, the people inside request to meet you now, and they are not someone you can refuse."

"Too bad, because they have no authority over me. I don't have to jump when they say jump."

"Be reasonable boy, these are not people you want to offend." Anton insisted.

"Then you definitely want Mom here to make sure I don't offend them by accident." Naruto said, then started to walk away.

Before he could get away, Anton grabbed Naruto's arm. "Boy, please reconsider."

Sakura frowned, immediately taking this as a threat to Naruto. Her mate had specifically said he didn't want to accept the man's offer, and yet the elf dared to try and force Naruto to comply? She had hurt people in past for being less rude to Sasuke, so there was no way in hell she was going to let this man get away with it.

"Get away from him!" She yelled, thrusting out her hand in order grab Anton's arm and force him to release Naruto.

Instead, there was a flash of light that engulfed Anton and sent him flying, all while leaving Naruto unharmed and where he still was.

"Whoa, what the heck was that?" Moegi asked, impressed and confused just like everyone else there.

All eyes were on Sakura, and she in turn pulled back her hand and looked at it like it was something she had never seen before. "Did I do that? But how? That was no jutsu I knew."

"We should go find Mom, she should know what that was." Naruto offered, and Sakura nodded.

* * *

><p>Kushina at the moment was in shock. When the medics said there had been a complication with Tayuya, she had hoped they meant that their methods simply hadn't been having an effect on removing the curse mark.<p>

To her surprise, they had proven very effective, but unfortunately there had been a rather disturbing side effect.

'This can't be happening. Not to her.' Kushina told herself, finding it hard to accept this and knowing it had to be worse for Tayuya herself.

"Geez Sis, with the way you're acting you'd swear you were the one with these things." Tayuya said as she walked up to her sister figure.

"You shouldn't be up Yaya-chan." Kushina offered.

"Are you kidding? I can finally walk after weeks of not being able to. No fucking way I'm staying in a bed." The former Oto kunoichi said while stretching her legs.

"But... but look what's happened to you. This is all my fault." Kushina replied.

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Oh please, is that's what got you eating lemons? Kushina, this isn't your fault. You didn't put that mark on me, you didn't force me to accept medical help, and you didn't do the doctors work. This is in no way your fault, so stop looking for a damn reason to blame yourself."

"You can't tell me you like this." Kushina complained.

"What, this?" Tayuya asked back, holding out her left arm which was the same brown as her level two curse form and sported sharper nails. "It's nothing to worry about, just some discoloration as a side effect."

"What if it's not a mere discoloation Tayuya? The doctors said your mark is gone but your body... both your forms may be merging into one. How is this an improvement? If anything it's like keeping it permanently active."

"I can deal with not being the most photogenic person in the world Kushina. At least this way I have my freedom." Tayuya replied, scratching an itch under her hair. "Eh, looks like I might end up keeping the horns. Could be worse."

"Worse? You could spend the rest of your life looking like an oni." Kushina pointed out.

"You have wings and a tail and can make chains pop out of your body just like this one guy I knew did with his own bones. And let's not forget your son who's got two out of three of those. If you can live with those changes to your body-"

"Do you know how difficult it was to adapt? To accept these?" Kushina asked, standing up and showing her wings. "When I changed, I had no idea who I was anymore. What I was anymore. And being taken to this world, taken away from everything and everyone I knew and forced into fights that were not mine just to get back that. For what was six years here and twelve years back home."

Tayuya put her hand on Kushina's shoulders. "Things are different here Kushina. I've already had these features so they're not new to me. And I won't be alone here. Trust me, you're worrying about nothing."

"And if it gets worse? What if you lose your mind to this too?" Kushina asked.

Tayuya sighed. "If it ever looks like I'm becoming a monster and cannot be helped, then do me a favor and kill me."

The Uzumaki woman gasped. "No! Absolutely not!"

"Even if it looks like I might kill your son?" Tayuya tested.

Kushina had no idea what to say to that.


	28. Chapter 28

_Recommended story: 'Shinobi's Creed' by Leaf Ranger_

Chapter Twenty-Eight

After the meeting with Anton, Shizune immediately went looking for Kushina. Naruto and the others stayed where they were, and Sakura was trying to see if she could replicated what she had done earlier. Mostly by thrusting her arms forward. But nothing happened.

"Damn, why can't I make it happen again?" She asked in frustration.

"Forehead, at this point aren't you supposed be... I dunno, completely out of chakra and having that mana stuff instead?" Ino asked.

"Your point being?" The pinkette asked back.

"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe you can't use mana the same way you were taught to use chakra." Ino suggested.

"Try it again. Maybe I can see what you're doing." Hinata said, activating her byakugan. Suddenly she gasped. "You... I can't see anything for you. You're blank to my eyes. And not just you, Naruto-kun and Tsunade-sama too." The Hyuuga could see the chakra networks of everyone else, but with the transformed members of the group they were just empty silhouettes to her.

"Blank?" Sakura asked.

Hinata nodded, deactivating her doujutsu as it would serve no purpose now. "I could see your shape but that was it. Mana must not be visible to eyes designed to see chakra."

"Wait, wouldn't you have noticed that in Kushina-san by now?" Sakura asked.

"I... must not have noticed." Hinata bashfully admitted. "The byakugan looks at a lot of stuff all at once. That means a lot of stuff just ends up being peripheral vision to us once we see what we're _trying_ to focus on. So it's entirely likely that all this time I never noticed if Kushina-kaasan had any chakra or not because I was trying to see something else with my byakugan."

"Kushina-kaasan." Sakura repeated, as if testing the title, then smiled. "Well, I guess she is for all intents and purposes your mother-in-law. And mine too."

"But you two aren't married to Naruto." Ino pointed out.

Sakura tapped the mark on her arm. "We've got a ring from him, that's enough for now."

"Is everyone okay?" Kushina called out, coming to the group with Shizune and Tonton beside her.

"Some jerk came here and tried to make Naruto-kun follow him to some meeting without you." Hinata answered, still peeved at that.

Kushina frowned. "And I bet I can guess why."

"That's not all. Somehow I forced the guy away without even touching him." Sakura added.

Kushina didn't look too wondered. "Well then, I'd say that might be a sign of your Gift. We can figure out it's basic nature later. Right now I think we should tell the people here what they can't do to my son."

* * *

><p>"Where is he?" A woman with graying hair asked from her seat. "We all know he's here, so why isn't he right here in this room?"<p>

"The incubus's mother is detained, and she's not going to let him speak with us alone." Another woman, this one younger and brunette but wearing a black shoulder-exposing dress, replied.

"My sister has always been irresponsible." A third woman groaned, relaxing in the central seat of the room which happened to be a throne. This woman was Zara Getsude, a biological relative of Kushina and the current queen of Ai no Kuni. She looked like Kushina, only ten years older and purple hair with a yellow regal dress with succubus features fully revealed.

"Yet the only reason we managed to escape total genocide was because of her." The grey-haired woman remarked.

"Just because you're right doesn't mean I'm wrong." Zara stated.

There was a knock at the door to the room, making everyone look to it.

"That must be here and her child. Let them in." Zara insisted, and one of the castle servants opened the door.

As expected, Kushina's group entered the room. It was a decent-sized circular room roughly as big as the classroom Ibiki's test had taken place in. Thin pillars lined the room with two large statues of naked succubi facing each other on opposite sides, connected to the walls like carved maidens on ship hulls. Between the statues on the far end from the door was an elevated portion of the floor with three steps up, and on this platform were three seats, the one in the center being the biggest and most ornate. Carved into the floor before the platform was a green-lined pink heartagram symbol.

"Took you long enough Kushina." Zara claimed, sounding impatient.

"I have my own priorities Zara and I do not apologize for seeing to them first." Kushina said firmly, sounding about as happy to see this woman as she was to be seen.

Naruto quickly looked at the three women seated on the platform. The most notable one was Zara, seated on a gold throne that was sculpted to resemble a male peacock's feathers fanned out, with dozens of gemstones decorating it. To her left was a girl that looked between his age and Ayame's, seated on a silver throne that looked more like a bird in flight seen from below, lacking jewels but decorated in embedded lace instead. To her right was an older woman that looked as old as Naruto assumed Tsunade originally was, seated on a grey stone throne with some padding for comfort but no decoration or design to it at all.

"I am the Queen, when I-" Zara started.

"Yeah yeah spare me the long winded speech Zara, not everyone likes the sound of your own voice as much as you do." Kushina brushed her off.

"What is your problem?" Zara asked, sounding more bothered than concerned.

"Gee, someone who works here approaches my son when I'm not around and tries to make him come to this room without me to speak to you. What the hell do you _think_ is my problem?" Kushina asked back.

"We wanted to see him." The youngest of the royal trio claimed in an innocent way, looking at Naruto then smiled. "Hello, I'm Ursha. I take it you're my cousin?"

Naruto shrugged. "How would I know?"

"I see your skills as a teacher are splendid." Zara said sarcastically to Kushina.

"I taught him only what he needed to know and when he needed to know it." The redhead justified.

"And he didn't need to know of his relatives?" Zara asked.

"What good would that have done him before actually seeing us?" The oldest member of the royal trio remarked to Zara, trying to silence her.

"If you insist, Naruto this is from left to right Sasa Getsude, my birth mother and former queen of Ai no Kuni, Zara Getsude, one of my blood sisters and current queen, and Ursha Getsude, princess and by blood your cousin."

"Great, so now what?" He asked.

"Relax child, we just want to get to know you. The son Kushina talked about nonstop ever since we brought her back home." Sasa said. "Sorry Kushina, I mean our home, not yours." She added, seeing Kushina's bothered look. She knew her daughter had not and still did not consider this country her home.

"Is it true you're an incubus?" Ursha asked eagerly.

Naruto let his wings and tail be revealed.

"So it's true, there is one incubus left in the world." Zara said. "Honestly, I'm surprised. I knew my sister had a son, but I thought the odds of you being an incubus were incredibly low. I'm glad to see her expedition to retrieve you was not a wasted effort."

"Even if he was human, it would not have been a waste." Kushina remarked.

"Oh no Kushina, I meant wasted on our end rather than yours." Zara corrected. "Please boy, introduce yourself to us."

Naruto stepped forward and tried to look impressive. "Alright, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and yes I'm an incubus but there's more to me than just that you know. I'm a strong fighter and clever prankster and..." He paused. "I'm not sure what to really say about myself. Usually when I try I'm told to just shut up."

"Have you taken any mates yet?" Zara asked.

"Yes, us two." Hinata said, putting an arm around Naruto along with Sakura.

"Wow, you've been busy boy." Sasa said with a smile.

"But are they suitable mates?" Zara asked.

"Suitable?" Both Hinata and Sakura repeated, offended and surprised. "You think you can judge us?"

"I'm not trying to judge you. I just wish to know what is it that made him choose you." Zara clarified.

"It's simple, we gave him the love and respect he always deserved but was never allowed to have because this country took his mother away from him without even bothering to take him too." Sakura said, glaring daggers at the rulers of the country. She couldn't help but feel they had plans for Naruto, an agenda that was made more for their benefit than his and were going to tell him he must comply or to hell with him. Essentially, no different than the attitude that made them leave Konoha.

"That's a good point Mom, why did the forces bring back Aunt Kushina but not her son?" Ursha asked, looking at Zara.

"I told you, remember?"

"Yeah, six years ago when it happened. I don't remember anymore."

"We were in a rush. We needed her back right away because the incubus genocide was starting with your father and our whole family in danger. We had left Kushina alone to her chosen home before, but the war was taking a bad turn and-"

"Wait, you mean you already knew where Mom was before you took her away?" Naruto cut off.

Zara didn't look happy to be interrupted, but she didn't call attention to it. "We had been searching for her for some time after she was taken away. It did take time to find her, but we did and concluded she was happy enough in Midgard to let her stay. But things took a turn for the worse for us, and we had to bring her here so she could use her battle experience to help us."

"And after she told you she had a newborn son?" Naruto asked.

"Well given what she described, a giant fox trying to destroy the town with you being right under it, we weren't convinced you had even survived the night." Sasa said simply.

"And you never checked?" Naruto asked again, getting angry.

"We were in a war boy with our species on the risk of being killed off. Sor-ry if we had bigger priorities than checking up on a boy that for all we knew was simply another human." Sasa said dryly.

"And what made you change your mind?" Hinata asked.

"The war ended, but we had lost all incubi. After some time of not finding any and no new incubi born in other matings, we got desperate and took a gamble on the very low odds of you being alive and an incubus. Even if you weren't, at least Kushina would have resolution over you."

"So all this time you've been actively preventing Mom from getting to me for years and forcing her to do what you think is best?" Naruto asked. "And it's only when it's in your own interests that you let her go?"

"There's more to it than that." Zara insisted.

"No it isn't! It's simple!" The whiskered blonde protested. "What if it had been _you_ separated from your kid and forced to fight in a war you didn't even know existed for family you didn't know you had and they told you that _they_ should be your top priority? Would you have been willing to ignore your kid?"

"It's not that simple boy." Zara claimed.

"Bull crap!" Sakura yelled, stepping forward and giving the queen her own evil eye. "You just don't care about anything but yourself!"

Zara blinked, surprised that someone would say this to her. "Young lady-"

"You shut your mouth!" Sakura said, pointing to the queen, who surprisingly did silence herself. "You abduct a woman out of her home and intentionally leave her baby behind all because you need someone to help save your ass in a fight. You actively prevent her from being able to get back home and try telling her that her baby is as good as dead and she might as well just get over it. The only reason you let her go home is because there's a chance her baby can be used for your own agenda if he's still alive. And now that he's here you start judging him and us? I don't care if you are a queen, you do not have authority over us."

"Hey, don't talk to my mom like that!" Ursha said, clenching the armrests of her throne.

"What am I supposed to say? That everything she did was the right thing? Not from where I'm standing." Sakura challenged.

"It wasn't all her fault. You think she's the one who made those choices? No, those were made by the army. She approved them only because we were getting desperate. You think she wanted to hurt you guys?"

Some mumbles from Zara got Ursha's attention, and to her surprise she saw the succubus queen trying to pull her lips apart. "What's wrong Mom?"

Zara seemed to try to shout, but her lips were literally sealed. She was practically clawing at them.

"Whoa, what made this happen?" Sasa asked, equally confused.

"Sakura-chan did you do that?" Naruto asked.

"How could I?" She asked.

"You did tell her to shut up." Hinata pointed out. "And you did tell that other guy to leave Naruto-kun alone and he was pushed back somehow."

"Hmm... Sakura, I think we need to test you." Kushina suggested.

"For what?"

"You'll see. But just to be safe, tell her she can talk again."

"O...kay." The pinkette said, uncertain, then looked to Zara. "You can speak now."

Zara finally opened her mouth and took a few deep breaths with it. "What did you do to me?" She asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea."

"Interesting Gift." Sasa said. "That could come in handy."

"I think this meeting has taken a turn for worse and emotions are flared to the point nothing constructive can be done here." Zara explained. "How about we stop here and call it a day? Maybe talk again at another time?"

"Yeah good luck with that." Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Kushina can show you to some rooms to use." Zara said. "Enjoy yourselves, but please don't get too comfortable here. This is a castle, not a clubhouse after all."

* * *

><p>"So what are we doing?" Sakura asked as she followed Kushina outside. One of the doctors who helped Sakura become a succubus was there too, observing to make sure that Sakura was adapting to the changes well.<p>

"We're going to test for your Gift. You remember what that is right?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, it's like a kekkei genkai for just one person, can't be gotten from your parents or given to your children but I presume family lines tend to have a common theme among them."

"Yes, that's true. Now, back in Konoha one can test for their elemental affinity in an easy way. With Gifts, that way isn't an option. there is no one way to test for sure what a person's Gift is. What is done is instead testing unique traits a person has once they show signs of something magical in nature."

"You mean trial and error?" Sakura asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes, I wish there was a better way but there isn't. At least none I know."

"Actually there is a way to help narrow the field down." Iyoi the doctor said. "Gifts tend to fall into three categories. Body-based for those that have unique physical traits, element-based for those that can affect some parts of the surroundings, and mana-based for those that can do things with their mana others can't."

"My chains are considered a body-based Gift." Kushina claimed.

"I can use a simple test to see what your Gift leans towards. Though this will only work if it's already active. And I should see if you're handling the change so far. Make sure everything internal is still working as intended and all that." Iyoi said.

Sakura nodded. "Alright."

Iyoi cracked her knuckles then put her hand on Sakura's head. "Foehmadu."

From her palm a white glow started and spread over Sakura's body like water, covering her entirely. So far nothing happened, but then the glow around her midsection started turning pink at the front and back.

"What's that mean?" Kushina asked.

Iyoi pulled her hand away and the glow disappeared. "Everything's alright, no problems with her body at all."

"What about that pink glow?" Kushina asked.

"Nothing to worry about. Something that occasionally happens in women. Now let's test for the girl's Gift instead." Iyoi said with a smile then put her hand back on Sakura's head. "Hope it's one you like, because it's the only one you'll have. Tubues yjod Hogy."

There was no glow this time, and after ten seconds Iyoi pulled her hand away. On Sakura's forehead was a dark square the size of her pupil colored like a bruise, and it faded away.

"Square means mana-based. Your Gift has something to do with your mana." Iyoi claimed. "So you at least have a starting point, though I wouldn't get carried away trying to find out what it is."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"That pink glow that I didn't say anything about, that's why. That means you're pregnant."

Sakura and Kushina were wide-eyed and silent.

Iyoi just chuckled. "I didn't tell you right away because I figured once you knew suddenly your Gift wouldn't be worth thinking about. Guess your boy works fast girl."

The pinkette looked at her stomach. "I'm pregnant? Already?"

"You were told this could happen. Succubi do have a common decency to have kids at this age if they don't use prevention means. And there was a good chance you'd experience a Frenzy quickly with the change." Iyoi told her. "Are you worried?"

"Yes, I am, but... I'm also happy." Sakura admitted with a soft smile. "I can't wait to tell Naruto-kun and Hinata."

"I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother this soon." Kushina said, sounding as worried and happy as the younger girl did.

"I wonder how my parents will take it." Sakura suddenly thought, then looked to Kushina. "We are going to go back someday right?"

Kushina nodded. "You think I plan to make us all stay here? Nope, Zara may be a good queen, but we're not her goons. I've been working on this for a while my deal, and trust me, we will be back home soon enough and Zara won't stop us."

Sakura nodded. "But what if Konoha won't accept us or Naruto-kun when we get back?"

"What will you do if that's the case?" Kushina asked back.

Sakura looked down, then frowned and seemed to guard her stomach. "If Konoha tries anything to my baby, I'll do more than simply make them shut up."


End file.
